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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA   SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822  02682  0407 


INIVERSITY  OF 

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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA   SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822  02682  0407 


Social  Sciences  &  Humanities  Library 

University  of  California,  San  Diego 
Please  Note:  This  item  is  subject  to  recall. 

Date  Due 


SEP  0  4  2002 

CI  39  (5/97)                                                                          UCSD  Lib. 

COIN 


ON 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  and  IMPERIALISM 


BY 

W.  H.  HARVEY 

AUTHOR   OF 

Coin's  Financial  School,  1894, 

Coin's  Financial  School  Up-to-Date,  189S, 

AND  A  Tale  of  Two  Nations 


Publishers 

COIN  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

Office,  5  Studio  Building 

Corner  State  and  Ohio  Streets 

CHICAGO,  ILLS. 


ENTERED  ACCORDING  TO  ACT  OP  CONGRESS,  IN  THE  YEAR  1899 

BY  COIN  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

IN  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  LIBRARIAN  OF  CONGRESS,  AT  WASHINGTON,  O.  C. 


It 


PRINTED  AND  BOUND  BY 

THOMAS  KNAPP  PRINTINQ  <S  BINDING  CO. 
CaiOARO. 


AX 


I  thank  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  Heaven  and  Earth, 
because  thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and 
prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  unto  babes. — Matthew, 
Chapter  9,  Verse  25. 

At  the  time  the  Bible  was  written,  terms  and  expres- 
sions were  used  that  had  a  meaning  in  that  day,  as  ex- 
pressions we  use  have  in  this  day.  According  to  the  con- 
cordance to  the  Bible,  the  words  "wise  and  prudent" 
meant  the  selfish  people,  and  "babes"  meant  the  pure  of 
mind  and  unselfish. 


(?OIlM 

ON 

MONEY,  TRUSTS,  and  IMPERIALISM 


CHAPTER  L 

On  Thursday  morning,  November  9th,  two  days  fol- 
lowing the  fall  elections  of  1899,  COIN,  the  young  finan- 
cier and  statesman,  arrived  in  Chicago. 

That  city  was  the  scene  of  his 
triumphs  in  May,  1894,  where 
for  six  successive  days  he  had 
delivered  lectures  in  the  Art  In- 
stitute, which  lectures  had  since 
gone  by  the  name  of  "Coin's  Fi- 
nancial School."  He  had  made 
a  second  appearance  in  Chicago 
in  March,  1895,  faced  his  critics, 
who  had  been  emboldened  by  his 
absence,  and  had  confused  and 
routed  them  in  his  "School,  Up 
to  Date." 

He  had  at  the  latter  date  sud- 
denly disappeared  and  now  as 
suddenly  reappeared  in  the  city 
of  his  former  achievements. 
Five  years  and  six  months  had 
elapsed  since  the  holding  of  his 
"Financial     School"     and     four 

years  and  eight  months  since  his  "Financial  School  Up 
to  Date."    In  appearance  he  had  changed.    From  the  boy 


COIN  AS  HE  APPEARED  ON 
THE  PLATFORM.. 


6  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

of  ten  or  eleven  in  knee  pants,  he  now  looked  the  boy  of 
sixteen  and  wore  long  trousers.  Otherwise  he  was  the 
same  little  statesman  who  had  set  in  motion  a  political 
revolution,  the  echoes  of  which  were  still  heard  in  the 
land. 

The  afternoon  papers  contained  an  account  of  his  ar- 
rival, and  the  morning  papers  of  the  lOth  announced  the 
intention  of  the  little  statesman  to  give  another  "School" 
in  the  Art  Institute,  the  place  at  which  the  six  lectures  of 
"Coin's  Financial  School"  were  delivered — to  begin  on 
the  following  Monday,  November  12th.  The  demand  for 
tickets  of  admission  far  exceeded  anything  like  the  capac- 
ity of  the  hall.  COIN  directed  that  preference  should  be 
given  to  boys  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  twenty,  but 
that  a  sprinkle  of  all  political  factions,  of  all  ages,  should 
be  admitted.  Also,  that  those  recognized  by  their  fol- 
lowers as  specially  learned  in  advocating  the  gold  stand- 
ard, national  bank  money,  Trusts  and  Expansion,  be  given 
front  seats : — that  he  wished  to  look  directly  in  their  eyes, 
to  talk  to  them,  and  to  give  them  a  hearing. 

The  First  Day. 

The  School  opened  as  announced  on  Monday,  Nov. 
I2th,  1899. 

The  hall  was  packed  with  people,  and  many  tried  to 
gain  admission  who  were  refused.  More  than  fifty  ladies 
were  present. 

COIN,  as  he  came  on  the  platform,  was  greeted  with 
applause  by  about  one-half  the  audience,  while  the  other 
half  sat  silently  in  their  seats. 

On  the  platform,  back  of  COIN,  was  a  large  frame, 
such  as  might  contain  the  life-size  picture  of  a  person, 
and  therein,  in  large  type,  these  words : 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


Man  serves  himself  best  by  pro- 
moting the  common  good. 

The  true  purpose  of  human  gov- 
ernment is  the  promotion  and  de- 
velopment of  the  human  race. 

A  smile  begets  a  smile,  and  kind- 
ness begets  kindness.  On  the  other 
hand,  abuse  begets  abuse,  and  ci'uelty 
begets  cruelty. 

A  statesman  is  one  who  wants  to 
do  something  for  his  country.  A 
politician  is  one  who  wants  his 
country  to  do  something  for  him. 

Wherever  people  come  together  to 
consider  the  common  good,  and 
vanity,  the  desire  to  promote  self, 
predominates,  it  neutralizes  all  efforts 
to  get  good  results. 

The  rise  and  decline  of  civilization 
may  be  marked  by  the  increase  or 
decrease  in  home-ownership.  No 
nation  can  be  truly  great  where  a 
majority  of  the  families  are  tenants, 
and  not  the  owners  of  homes. 

Individual  selfishness  crystallized 
into  the  laws  of  nations  is  the  cause 
of  the  overthrow  of  republics,  and  is 
the  mother  of  monarchies.  When- 
ever the  people  by  education  and 
training  become  worshipers  of  Mam- 
mon, laws,  as  a  rule,  are  made  and 
construed  in  the  interest  of  property, 
and  humanity  is  neglected. 


m 


Jii 


m 


8  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

COIN  began  by  pointing  with  a  rod  in  his  hand  to, 
and  repeating  slowly  the  words  in  the  picture  frame,  paus- 
ing between  each  paragraph,  and  at  times  making  more 
plain  their  meaning. 

As  he  read  the  one  that  said  "A  statesman  is  one  who 
wants  to  do  something  for  his  country, — a  politician  is 
one  who  wants  his  country  to  do  something  for  hhn" 
there  was  applause.  He  then  added :  "A  statesman  looks 
upon  a  public  office  as  an  opportunity  to  do  good,"  and, 
saying  this,  was  about  to  proceed,  when  some  one  in  the 
audience  said :  "And  a  politician  is  a  man  with  the  'office 
itch.' "  This  remark  created  applause  mingled  with 
laughter. 

Having  impressed  each  of  the  elementary  truths,  COIN 
proceeded : 

"I  would  next  have  you  learn  an  elementary  principle 
on  which  democratic  governments  are  based.    It  is  this : 

"When  the  people  permit  a  class  of  citizens  to  do  their 
thinking  for  them  on  a  question  of  national  policy,  it  re- 
sults in  that  class  influencing  legislation  in  its  selfish  in- 
terests, and  against  the  interest  of  the  masses — and  in  the 
end,  if  not  checked,  results  in  revolution  or  Monarchy." 

The  little  teacher  then  said  that  he  wanted  the  boys 
present  to  commit  to  memory  the  principle  just  stated  and 
that  he  would  assist  them  in  doing  so.  He  drew  from  a 
portfolio  a  cardboard  with  it  thereon  in  large  t3^pe  and 
put  it  on  an  easel  placed  on  the  platform  by  an  attendant. 

Continuing  he  said:  "Experience  has  proven  two 
things,  One,  that  people,  as  a  rule,  are  selfish,  and  the 
Other,  that  the  laws  of  a  'government  can  be  used  with 
which  to  enrich  one  set  of  people  at  the  expense  of  an 
other  set.  Those  who  are  building  up  fortunes  out  of 
laws  become  very  energetic  in  securing  and  maintaining 
laws  that  thus  benefit  them  and  are  very  ingenious  in 


MONEY,  TkUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


9 


giving  reasons  why  such  laws  are  generally  beneficial ; 
while  the  other  people,  busy  at  their  various  natural  voca- 
tions, are  prone  to  accept  as  sound  the  thinking  of  the 
class  thus  enriched  by  legislation,  and  the  people  realize 
usually  too  late  that  they  have  been  placed  in  a  position 
that  dooms  them  to  hopeless  slavery. 

"Two  classes  of  people,"  he  continued,  "seem  to  have 
ever  existed.     One  that  is  humane,  that  delights  in  the 


When  the  people  permit  a  class  of  citizens 
to  do  their  thinking  for  them  on  a  question 
of  national  policy,  it  results  in  that  class 
influencing  legislation  in  its  selfish  interest 
and  against  the  interests  of  the  masses— and 
in  the  end,  if  not  checked,  results  in  revolu- 
tion  or  Monarchy. 


/"^v 


upbuilding  of  mankind,  and  yet  aims  to  provide  comfort- 
ably for  self;  the  Other,  that  seeks  self-promotion  and 
aggrandizement  and  incidentally,  only,  thinks  of  the  com- 
mon good.  A  member  of  the  latter  class  is  not  satisfied 
with  sufficient  for  comfort  through  life,  but  seemingly  is 
possessed  with  the  fever  of  greed.  These  two  classes, 
from  a  religious  standpoint,  have  been  supposed  to  be 


10  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM, 

prompted,  One  by  the  spirit  of  Good,  and  the  Other  by 
the  spirit  of  Evil ;  and  upon  the  death  of  the  body  of  one 
belonging  to  the  first  class,  the  life  or  spirit  of  such  per- 
son, it  is  supposed,  goes  at  once  to  an  other  and  better 
world,  where  there  is  no  death  and  no  sorrow,  as  quickly 
as  the  voice  may  be  transmitted  to  a  great  distance  over 
an  electric  wire ;  and  upon  the  death  of  one  belonging  to 
the  second  class,  the  life  or  spirit  is  supposed  to  pass  as 
quickly  to  a  world  or  planet  possessed  by  like  spirits, 
where  they  are  the  perpetual  victims  of  each  other's  darts 
and  stings.* 

"These  two  classes  or  spirits  come  in  conflict  in  civil 
government.  One  seeking  to  perfect  civilization  in  the 
interest  of  all,  and  the  Other  seeking  to  prey  on  those  who 
toil  and  produce.  The  evil  in  government  that  has  never 
been  controlled  is  class  legislation.  It  means  laws 
whereby  one  class  of  people  preys  upon  other  people ;  and 
the  extent  of  it  and  the  injury  of  it  has  never  been  wholly 
understood.  Monarchy  embodies  all  the  evils  of  class 
laws  and  is  instituted  for  the  protection  of  those  who 
thus  make  their  fortunes.  Republics  and  democracies  are 
instituted  for  the  purpose  of  holding  this  evil  in  check 
and  of  finally  abolishing  it. 

"Having  learned  the  principle  that  you  must  not  permit 
the  classes,  that  profit  by  laws,  to  do  your  thinking  for 
you,  we  come  to  the  next  important  elementary  principle 
in  free  government.    It  is  this : 

"All  the  people  should  educate  themselves  on  questions 
of  national  policy,  and,  then,  through  the  ballot  box,  by 
a  majority  expression  of  opinion,  they  will  most  nearly 


♦Telegraph  messages  and  the  voice  can  now  be  transmitted 
without  wire.  The  message  can  be  sent,  passing  through  great 
iron  vaults  and  buildings.  It  is  but  a  slight  indication  of  how 
the  soul  may  pass  from  the  body  to  another  world. 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


11 


arrive  at  an  unselfish  judgment — and  thereby  negative 
the  influence  of  selfish  classes. 

"I  want  the  boys  to  also  memorize  this  second  principle, 
and  I  will  put  it  up  where  they  can  read  it."  COIN  took 
from  his  portfolio  another  card  containing  this  latter  prin- 
ciple and  put  it  on  an  easel  brought  to  him  for  that  pur- 
pose.   There  was  now  in  the  center  of  the  platform  the 


All  the  people  should  educate  themselves 
on  questions  of  national  policy,  and,  then, 
through  the  ballot  box,  by  a  majority  expres- 
sion of  opinion,  they  will  most  nearly  arrive 
at  an  unselfish  judgment,— and  thereby  neg- 
ative the  influence  of  selfish  classes. 


Elementary  Truths ;  and  with  one  on  each  side  of  it  were 
the  two  Elementary  Principles. 

He  continued:  "By  encouraging  the  education  of  all 
the  people  upon  questions  of  national  policy,  they  learn 
to  think  for  themselves — see  the  dangers  that  threaten 
civilization — and  in  time  grasp  the  philosophy  of  free 
government.  The  boys  may  thus  learn  while  they  are  yet 
young,  and  on  coming  of  age  will  be  ready  to  exert  their 
influence  at  elections  for  the  good  of  mankind. 


IS  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

"An  Empire  or  Monarchy  is  founded  on  the  theory 
that  those  who  have  grown  rich,  those  who  have  first  ob- 
tained their  riches  through  class  legislation,  know  best 
what  laws  should  be  made  and  what  the  policy  of  the 
nation  should  be.  They  educate  the  people  to  this  belief 
and  accustom  the  latter  to  the  position  of  lackeys,  depend- 
ants and  tenants.  Sometimes  a  mild  form  of  popular  gov- 
ernment is  given  to  the  people  to  amuse  them,  and  deceive 
them,  with  the  idea  that  they  are  directing  public  thought. 
Many  Republics  assume  this  form,  for  a  time,  prior  to 
being  changed  into  an  actual  Empire  or  Monarchy.  Em- 
pire and  Monarchy  mean  practically  the  same  thing.  And 
Republic  and  Democracy  mean  substantially  the  same." 

Here  a  young  man  about  twenty  years  of  age,  by  the 
name  of  Robert  Crow,  interrupted  COIN  to  know  if  there 
was  not  a  slight  difference  between  Empire  and  Mon- 
archy, and  again  between  a  Republic  and  a  Democracy  ? 

"Yes,"  replied  COIN,  "an  Empire  is  a  Monarchy  reach- 
ing out  to  place  other  people  under  its  dominion  or  rule. 
A  Monarchy  seeks  to  subjugate  its  own  people  only ;  it  is 
known  as  an  Empire  w-hen  it  seeks  to  rule  other  people. 
A  Democracy  differs  from  a  Republic  in  that  it  seeks  ever 
to  get  nearer  to  the  people  and  to  make  them  feel  and 
have  the  responsibility  of  deciding  all  questions — a  Re- 
public leans  more  toward  the  people  selecting  representa- 
tives to  settle  questions  of  government  for  them."  Hav- 
ing answered  the  question  the  little  lecturer  proceeded: 

"So,  that  the  distinctive  difference  between  a  Mon- 
archy and  a  Democracy  is  that  a  Monarchy  is  conducted 
in  the  interest  of  those  who  use  laws  to  enrich  themselves  ; 
a  Democracy  is  intended  to  abolish  class  legislation  and 
establish  a  government  with  'Equal  rights  to  all  and  spe- 
cial privileges  to  none.'  Wc  will  see  as  we  proceed  how 
class  legislation  may  eat  out  the  heart  of  a  Republic  or  a 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  io 

Democracy,  and  turn  it  into  a  cold,  pulseless  Monarchy. 
The  Good  Spirit,  God,  is  now  contending  with  the  Evil 
Spirit,  the  Devil,  here  in  the  United  States,  and,  at  the 
present  time,  education  upon  the  subject  of  civil  govern- 
ment is  more  important  than  upon  any  other  subject. 
"No  people,  as  a  whole,  have  ever  understood  the  effect 


THE  RELIGION  OP  POLITICS. 


of  laws  on  civilization.  They  have  drifted  along  not  un- 
derstanding the  effect  of  laws  on  their  welfare,  and  it  has 
been  to  the  interest  of  the  benefited  classes,  to  so  direct 
education  that  the  people  might  not  be  enlightened. 

"Where  greed  and  vanity  is  cultivated  in  a  Republic, 
the  people  lose  sight  of  the  Elementary  Truths  on  which 
they  started  out,  and  then  the  Republic  drifts  more  rapidly 
toward  class  laws  and  a  Monarchy. 


14  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

"For  you  to  understand  how  Republics  once  begun 
may  be  destroyed,  you  must  understand  what  effect  laws 
may  have  that  are  intended  to  benefit  a  class.  To  make 
this  clear  I  will  use  as  an  illustration  a  law  in  England. 
It  is  a  law  that  permits  the  owner  of  land  to  settle  it  on  the 
oldest  son,  to  descend  indefinitely  from  oldest  son  to  old- 
est son.  It  is  known  as  the  law  of  entail.  Once  entailed 
the  land  could  not  be  divided  and  sold  to  others,  but 
would  be  held  by  the  oldest  living  son  to  pass  at  his  death 
to  the  next  oldest  son  or  other  person  named  in  the  deed 
entailing  the  land.  The  effect  of  this  law  was  that  in 
time,  99  per  cent  of  all  the  lands  in  England,  Scotland  and 
Ireland,  passed  into  the  ownership  of  less  than  one  per 
cent  of  the  people ;  thus  reducing  99  per  cent  of  the  people 
to  tenantry.  It  created  a  class  that  liyed  vain  lives  of 
idleness  and  luxury,  while  depriving  others  of  land  that 
would  have  served  them  for  homes.  Our  forefathers  un- 
derstood the  effect  of  this  law,  on  civilization,  that  reduced 
a  people  to  tenantry  and  provided  against  it  in  the  consti- 
tutional laws  of  this  country.  It  is  a  law,  where  it  exists, 
that  makes  impossible  a  general  system  of  home  owner- 
ship, and  reduces  nearly  all  the  families  to  the  position  of 
tenants. 

"When  people  become  hopelessly  tenants  and  can  see  no 
better  future  for  themselves,  they  lose  pride  of  home  and 
hope  of  the  future.  They  can,  after  that,  see  no  reason 
for  studying  public  questions,  seek  only  to  provide  for 
themselves  as  best  they  can  in  their  position  of  depend- 
ants; and  seek  to  curry  favors  with  those  upon  whom 
they  are  dependent  by  voting  with  them,  if  they  have 
votes,  or  otherwise  being  slavish  toward  those  who  are  in 
the  position  of  masters  to  them.  No  Republic  can  exist 
long  where  a  majority  of  its  people  are  tenants,  and,  de- 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  lAIPERIALISM. 


15 


pendent  upon   others  for  the  opportunity  of  making  a 
hving. 

"You  can  thus  understand  why  any  law  that  increases 
tenantry  and  places  the  opportunities  of  a  living  in  the 
hands  of  a  few,  is  destructive  of  good  government  and 
human  happiness.  Instead  of  the  law  of  entail,  it  would 
have  been  a  better  law  to  have  provided  that  no  one  should 
own  more  land  than  was  necessary  for  the  comfort  of 
himself  and  familv  durinsf  their  natural  lives. 


■  til'-" 


ONE  OF  THE  OLDEST  SONS. 


"While  the  evil  effect  of  such  a  law  was  plain  to  our 
forefathers,  and  is  plain  to  us,  you  will  ask  yourselves  the 
question,  why  the  people  of  England  have  permitted  it  ? 
It  is  because  the  dependent  people,  in  currying  favor  with 
those  who  possess  the  wealth  and  control  employment, 
give  willing  submission  to  conditions  as  they  are;    and 


16  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

know,  as  a  rule,  that  agitation  and  resentment  at  condi- 
tions may  deprive  them  of  temporary  food  and  shelter. 

"It  is  also  true,"  continued  the  little  philosopher,  "that 
people  may  become  accustomed  to  a  system  of  laws,  and, 
never  having  known  anything  else,  many  adjust  them- 
selves to  it  as  right — they  find  that  public  opinion  accepts 
it  as  right— a  public  opinion  moulded  by  the  dominant 
classes — and  thus  surrounded  on  all  hands  by  fixed  con- 
ditions and  customs,  the  young  man  or  young  woman 
coming  of  age,  accepts  the  situation  as  it  exists — and  does 
not  seek  to  change  it.  This  is  mainly  true  in  England  and 
among  the  other  Monarchies  and  effete  nations.  I  do  not 
mean  that  all  of  the  people  in  these  countries  have  been 
broken  in  courage  and  have  surrendered  hope,  but  the  de- 
pendency of  their  position,  makes  it  possible  for  the  law 
of  entail,  or  any  other  class  law,  to  remain  undisturbed  in 
those  nations.  In  time  people  become  accustomed  to  an 
erroneous  system  and  regard  it  as  right.  They  patch  it 
up  and  blunder  along,  enduring  the  ills  they  have,  and 
never  think  of  overturning  it  and  rebuilding  the  founda- 
tion. 

"We,  too,  have  laws,"  continued  the  boy  schoolmaster, 
"that  are  as  effectually  reducing  our  people  to  tenantry 
and  dependency  as  the  land  law  of  England  has  assisted 
in  thus  placing  the  people  there.  And  the  trouble  with  us, 
as  it  has  been  with  all  people  similarly  situated,  is  to  have 
them  understand  that  it  is  the  effect  of  lazi's  that  is  thus 
working  their  ruin — and  to  have  those  who  become  de- 
pendants to  not  lose  courage,  and  to  assist  in  their  own 
emancipation." 

At  this  point,  Mr.  Edward  Jarvis  of  Benton  Harbor, 
Michigan,  rose  in  the  audience  and  said :  "You  have 
made  very  plain  the  effect  of  the  law  of  entail  of  Eng- 
land; so  plain  that  I  think  any  one  not  living  under  its 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


17 


influence  can  understand  it,  and  I  suppose  and  hope  that 
you  are  going  to  make  equally  as  plain  the  dangerous 
class  laws  that  we  have  with  us.  But,  here  is  my  ques- 
tion: Wherein  will  our  people  differ  in  subserviences, 
and  in  respect  to  that  influence  that  operates  on  depend- 
ants, from  the  people  of  England?  We  come  mainly  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  stock,  the  same  as  England ;  and  if  the 
people  of  England  will. submit  to  class  laws  that  reduce 


The  rise  and  decline  of     .      ^ 
civili7ation  may  be  naarl<^    // 
by  the  Increase  or  decrease 
in  home-ownership.  Mo  nation 
can  be  truly  great  where 
/'  a  majority  op  the  f-amilies 
t^^^and  not  owners 
?nes. 


them  to  tenantry  and  a  Monarchy,  wherein  will  our  peo- 
ple act  differently  ?" 

"In  the  case  of  every  Republic,"  replied  COIN,  "that 
has  gone  down  to  its  ruin,  there  is  a  dead  line,  which 
when  crossed  hope  becomes  extinct.  With  us,  we  have 
not  yet  crossed  the  dead  line.  When  one  is  a  tenant,  or 
dependant,  and  his  father  and  grandfather  before  him 
were  such,  hope,  as  a  rule,  dies  out,  and  he  no  longer  takes 
an  interest  in  public  questions,  except  for  temporary  per- 
sonal gain.    But  with  us.  most  of  those  who  are  now  de- 


18  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

pendants  remember  their  fathers  as  home  owners  and  in- 
dependent of  any  one  for  means  of  employment ;  and  they 
have  not  lost  hope  of  their  emancipation.  The  remedy  is 
education  and  organization.  The  people  must  be  moulded 
into  a  thunderbolt  for  their  deliverance, — and  it  must  be 
through  education  and  organization. 

"It  is  true,"  continued  COIN,  "that  the  ruling  classes 
will  try  to  exert  their  influence  on  those  dependent  on 
them,  and  on  those,  both  men  and  women,  who  naturally 
toady  to  a  vain  aristocracy,  and  in  many  instances  will 
succeed;  but  with  able  executive  leaders,  who  know  the 
value  of  time,  we  can,  through  education  and  organiza- 
tion, hold  intact  the  masses  of  the  people,  overthrow  class 
rulers,  and  advance  rapidly  the  cause  of  mankind.  Poli- 
ticians who  know  the  influence  class  rulers  have  had  on 
dependants  will  naturally  gravitate  to  the  political  party 
that  champions  the  cause  of  the  classes;  but  statesmen 
will  arise  to  take  their  places,  and  assist  those  we  now 
have,  in  leading  the  producers — farmers  and  other  labor- 
ers— in  a  successful  peaceful  revolution." 

This  opinion  of  the  little  statesman  was  received  with 
applause,  and  Herman  Buscher,  a  boy  about  seventeen 
years  of  age,  rose  and  asked  COIN  if  he  would  not  make 
plainer  whom  he  meant  by  "dependants." 

"One  who  is  able,"  replied  COIN,  "to  initiate  employ- 
ment for  himself,  or  who  is  able  to  live  without  employ- 
ment, is  independent  of  others  for  the  necessities  of  life, — 
he  is  an  independent  citizen.  A  dependant  is  one  who 
must  depend  on  some  one  else  for  employment,  and  who  is 
not  possessed  of  means  sufficient  to  live  without  employ- 
ment. Those  who  are  dependent,"  concluded  COIN,  "are 
interested  in  opening  up  opportunities  by  which  they  may 
become  independent, — work  at  which  they  may  be  their 
own  masters.    A  farmer  with  an  unmortgaged  farm  is 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


19 


independent,  can  initiate  his  own  employment ;  a  wage 
earner  is  dependent  on  some  one  else  for  employment. 

"The  nearer  a  Republic,"  he  con- 
tinued, "becomes  a  nation  of  home 
owners  and  a  people  with  independent 
employment,  the  nearer  it  approaches 
to  a  true  Democracy, — which  means 
the  promotion  and  development  of  the 
human  race.  And  the  nearer  a  Re- 
public approaches  a  nation  of  tenants 
and  dependants,  the  nearer  it  comes 
to  a  Monarchy  or  Empire, — which 
means  the  slavery  and  crucifixion  of 
the  human  race.  When  a  nation, 
filled  with  dependants,  becomes  a 
Monarchy,  these  dependants  or  their 
offspring,  eventually  become  serfs — 
without  ambition  or  aspiration,  de- 
graded creatures,  without  hope  of  the 
future." 

And  with  this  COIN  closed,  saying  that  as  it  was  the 
first  day  he  wished  the  boys  present  to  think  about  what 
had  been  said  before  proceeding  further.  All  present 
seemed  to  be  pleased  with  what  he  had  said,  and  by  their 
expressions  seemed  to  think  the  little  fellow  was  thus  far 
unassailable.  There  were  men  present,  however,  who  it 
was  known  intended  to  attack  him  at  what  they  would 
regard  the  first  opportunity. 


A    COMPOSITE    PICTURE 

OF  FIVE   SERFS  IN  THAT 

MANY  MONARCHlEa 


END  OP  FIRST  LESSON. 


CHAPTER  It. 

The  Second  Day, 

The  news  columns  of  the  morning  papers  of  Tuesday 
contained  a  very  fair  account  of  the  first  day  of  the 
School.  There  was  none  of  the  usual  abuse  that  it  had 
been  the  practice  of  some  of  these  papers  to  emit  against 
those  who  would  change  existing  conditions.  Editorially, 
the  Chicago  papers  were  silent.  If  it  was  the  intention 
to  assail  the  little  fellow,  in  the  judgment  of  their  editors, 
the  time  to  do  so  had  not  yet  arrived.  Editorially  they 
said  nothing. 

It  proved,  however,  to  be  the  calm  before  the  storm 
that  in  the  days  to  follow  broke  with  all  its  fury  upon  the 
head  of  the  little  champion  of  popular  liberty. 

Those  who  had  attended  the  first  day  received  tickets 
that  would  admit  them  to  all  the  days  of  the  School,  and 
they  were  again  in  their  seats  on  the  second  day,  with  the 
hall  filled  to  its  full  capacity,  when  COIN  came  on  the 
platform. 

"Yesterday,"  he  began,  "we  considered  the  truths  on 
which  human  government  should  be  founded;  and  the 
principles  that  must  be  observed  to  aid  the  people  in  per- 
fecting such  a  government  as  is  desired.  Also,  we 
learned  the  difiference  between  a  Monarchy  and  a  Democ- 
racy ;  that  the  former  stands  for  the  protection  of  class 
rulers;  and  that  it  is  through  the  latter  that  the  people 
may  hope  for  the  perfection  of  civil  government. 

"We  are  now  to  consider  wherein  class  laws  are  affect- 
ing us  in  this  nation.  We  cannot  hope  to  make  the  same 
progress  in  being  quickly  understood,  when  dissecting 
our  own  class  legislation  as  when  speaking  of  a  class 

20 


MONEY.  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


21 


law  of  another  nation ;  a  law  that  does  not  exist  with  us. 
When  we  assail  a  class  law  that  exists  here,  those  bene- 
fited by  it,  as  a  rule,  are  perfectly  blind  as  to  the  injustice 
such  a  law  inflicts  upon  others.  It  is  good  for  them,  and 
their  unconscious  selfishness  finds  ample  reason  to  Justify 
the  law.  Their  influence,  as  a  rule,  dominates  those 
whose  business  is  connected  with  theirs,  or  benefited 
thereby.  Also  those  who  hold  the  chief  salaried  positions 
in  business  founded  on  class  laws.  All  these  will  more 
or  less  bitterly  oppose  us.  Another  class  of  people  that 
we  can  hope  to  do  but  little  with  are  those  who  toady 
to  the  vain  and  rich. 

"But,  nevertheless,"  the  little  statesman  continued,  "if 
we  manage  well,  a  majority  of  the  people  in  the  United 
States  will  come  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  truth  and  unite 
for  their  protection.  Those  from 
whom  tribute  is  being  exacted  by 
the  classes  are  the  more  nu- 
merous, and,  their  efl:"orts  well 
directed,  will  save  this  nation 
before  it  crosses  the  dead  line. 
Class  legislation  to  many  of  the 
people  is  a  sealed  book.  They  do 
not  understand  the  effect  of  laws 
in  reducing  them  to  tenantry  and 
dependency — that  the  evil  effect 
of  some  laws  may  be  to  de- 
stroy manhood  and  womanhood — and  a  people  and  a 
nation.  Environed  as  we  are,"  raising  both  his  hands 
and  looking  about  him,  "by  these  class  influences  around 
and  about  us — that  will  embarrass  our  efforts — yet  let  us 
have  courage  to  proceed.  All  is  at  stake !  No  one,  should 
envy  the  doom  of  a  people,  destroyed  through  their  igno- 


ENVIRONED  A3  WE  ARE,"  RAIS- 
ING  HIS   HANDS   AND  LOOK- 
ING ABOUT   HIM. 


23  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

ranee.  Our  course  is  the  only  one  and  it  leads  to  a  bet- 
ter world ! 

"As  we  proceed,  do  not  understand  me  to  be  arraying 
you  against  the  rich,  as  such.  There  is  nothing  to  be 
made  by  railing  at  the  rich,  simply  because  they  are  rich. 
The  poor,  as  a  rule,  would  act  just  as  the  rich  act,  if  the 
situation  was  reversed.  Covetousness,  that  disregards 
the  natural  rights  of  others,  exists  with  many  people  in 
all  grades  of  life — the  poor,  as  well  as  the  rich.  All  such 
need  an  education  that  enlarges  the  soul,  broadens  the 
niind  and  loosens  the  ligaments  of  covetousness  from 
around  the  heart. 

"Chief  among  the  class  laws,"  he  continued,  "that  are 
destroying  us,  that  are  silently  transferring  the  property 
of  the  many  to  the  few,  that  are  reducing  the  nation  to 
tenantry,  and  the  people  to  dependants,  are  our  financial 
laws.  As  efifectually  and  more  so,  is  it  doing  this,  than 
the  law  of  entail  in  time  reduced  the  people  of  England 
and  Scotland  and  Ireland  to  tenantry. 

"Money  is  a  necessity  in  civilization.  You  cannot  be 
a  part  of  civilization  without  it.  Civilization  cannot  exist 
without  it.  To  be  a  part  of  society,  money  is  as  necessary 
to  you  as  air  and  water.  Imagine  yourself  without  it, 
continuously  without  it,  and  then  imagine  what  would  be 
your  condition.  Say  you  live  four  miles  from  this  hall; 
you  would  have  to  walk  home ;  not  being  a  producer  of 
things  to  eat,  you  would  probably  need  money  with 
which  to  buy  food,  and  later  something  to  wear.  The 
producer  uses  it  to  buy  those  things  which  he  does  not 
produce.  Without  it  you  would  live  longer  than  you 
v/ould  without  air  or  water,  but  you  would  not  be  a  part 
of  civilization. 

"Money  is  a  medium  of  exchange,  making  possible  di- 
versified business  and  employment,  by  which  people  may 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


23 


separate  themselves  from  the  soil  that  produces ;  and  en- 
gage in  numerous  other  occupations,  in  the  arts  and 
sciences,  in  trade  and  commerce,  in  education  and  the 
mechanics,  and  other  useful  things.  All  this  is  possible 
with  a  medium  of  exchange.  Without  it  this  partial  civil- 
ization that  we  have  reared  would  sink  back  into  semi- 
savagery.  The  total  absence  of  money  would  drive  people 
from  business.  We  would  then  deal  by  barter  and 
trade  as  the  half-naked  and  uncivilized  people  do. 


BEING  WITHOUT  MONEY  THEY  EXCHANGE  ARTICLES. 

"When  you  place  such  a  necessity  for  our  happiness 
and  existence  in  the  hands  of  a  class  of  men,  to  decide 
for  us  how  much  of  it  society  needs,  to  issue  it  and  to 
receive  from  the  people  a  toll  for  its  use,  you  may  form 
an  impression  as  to  the  effect  that  might  be  expected  in 
clogging  a  civilization  that  might  be  grander  and  greater 


24  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

and  more  beautiful  than  this  which  we  now  have.  You 
cannot  trust  the  air  that  surrounds  us  or  the  water  of  the 
earth  to  a  class  of  men  to  deal  in  for  a  profit.  Nor  can 
you  with  safety  leave  it  to  a  class  of  men,  who  deal  in 
money  for  profit,  to  say  how  much  money  shall  be  put  in 
circulation,  what  it  shall  exist  of,  when  issued  and  ho\\ 
regulated?  Money  is  as  necessary  to  civilization  as  air 
and  water  is  to  animal  life.  The  most  dangerous  of  all 
our  class  legislation  is  that  which  applies  to  money. 

"And  when  you  trust  such  a  necessity  to  a  class  of 
men  who  are  fortune  hunters,  engaged  in  private  busi- 
ness, to  issue,  and  expand,  and  contract,  the  quantity  at 
their  pleasure,  this  class  of  men  will  take  advantage  of 
such  a  law  for  their  enrichment.  As  it  may  be  used 
for  great  benefit,  so  it  may  be  used  for  great  injury 
when  controlled  by  selfish  men. 

"Money  is  the  blood  of  commerce,  and,  without  it,  com- 
merce would  stop !  When  the  men  of  commerce  per- 
mit a  class  of  men  who  deal  in  money,  for  profit,  to  tell 
them  and  fix  for  them  what  is  necessary  as  to  money,  it 
may  be  expected  to  end  in  the  money  dealers  owning  all 
that  the  men  of  commerce  possess.  And  those  who  study 
civilization  from  a  love  of  offspring  and  mankind,  should 
not  allow  the  life-giving  fiuid  of  civilization  to  be  regu- 
lated by  a  class  of  men  who  deal  in  it  "for  gain. 

"By  a  system  of  false  education  the  people  have  been 
accustomed  to  think  that  the  men  who  deal  in  money 
know  best  what  laws  should  be  enacted  concerning  it. 
The  money  dealers  have  encouraged  this  idea.  And  this 
belief  has  given  the  money  dealers  the  opportunity  they 
desired,  in  influencing  legislation  in  the  interest  of  their 
class.  They  have  also  used  the  opportunity  to  fill  all  the 
government  positions  through  which  money  is  handled 
and  regulated,  with  men  of  their  class.    A  money  dealer 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


25 


LYMAN  J.  GAGE,  A  BANKER 

AND  SECRETARY  OF 

THE  TREASURY. 


is  Secretary  of  the  nation's  Treasury ;   another  is  Comp- 
troller of  the  Currency ;  they  fill  the  positions  of  superin- 
tendents in  the  mints  and  sub-treasuries,  and  their  ad- 
vice  is  taken  as   to   all   laws  and 
measures  respecting  this  great  ne- 
cessity in  which  they  deal. 

"The  laws,  these  men  who  deal 
in  money  have  had  passed  to  benefit 
their  class,  are  numerous,  and  each 
new  one  has  added  to  their  wealth 
until,  as  we  will  see  later,  the  bulk 
of  all  net  earnings  of  the  whole 
people  is  being  annually  paid  over 
to  them. 

"Their  principal  business  is  to 
loan  money  for  interest.  That  is, 
they  charge  for  the  use  of  money, 
which  is  called 'interest.'  Up  to  about  fifty  years  ago  it  was 
called  'usury,'  but  since  then  it  is  called  'interest.'  The 
word  2tsitry  as  used  in  the  Bible  means  interest — one  per 
cent  was  usury.  There  have  been 
many  laws  made  fixing  a  rate  of 
interest  beyond  which  it  was  unlawful 
to  charge,  and  the  word  'usury'  is 
now  used  to  mean  'interest'  in  excess 
of  the  legal  rate,  instead  of  meaning 
interest  for  any  sum,  as  before.  As 
the  principal  business  of  money  deal- 
ers is  to  loan  money  for  interest,  they  ^"e^r^and  comptroller*^' 
are  as  often  called  'money  lenders.'  °^  "^"^  currency. 
They  are  called  'money  dealers'  because  they  deal  in 
money;  and  'money  lenders'  because  they  lend  money. 
"What  I  have  said,  as  to  the  necessity  of  money  im- 
presses itself  upon  us  at  every  turn  in  life.     So  great  is 


26  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

its  necessity  that  by  example  it  is  impressed  on  the  little 
child  at  three  and  four  years  of  age,  who  knows  what  it 
is  and  its  use.  You  can  do  without  bread  and  be  healthy 
and  happy.  You  can  do  without  meat  and  be  healthy 
and  happy.  And  yet  these  two  things  are  known  as 
necessities.  You  cannot  do  without  money  and  be  a  part 
of  civilization.     It  is  a  necessity. 

"There  is  as  much  reason  for  a  normal  supply  of  money 
— a  greater  necessity — as  there  is  for  a  normal  supply 
of  wheat.  The  first  great  injury  the  money  lenders  do 
is  in  holding  down  the  supply  of  money.  The  money 
lenders  aim  to  hold  down  the  supply  of  money  so  as  to 
ply  their  trade  of  loaning  what  money  they  have,  and 
which  they  use  for  that  purpose. 

"A  normal  supply  of  money  for  the  United  States  is 
the  quantity  necessary  for  use  in  the  exchange  of  all 
products,  for  conducting  all  business,  and  travel,  and 
education,  and  the  expenses  of  running  the  government. 

"The  quantity  of  money  necessary  to  carry  on,  easily 
and  without  friction,  all  these  exchanges  of  services  and 
property  and  products,  is  what  would  be  called  a  normal 
supply 

"We  ascertain  what  this  is,  at  the  present  time,  by 
inquiring  into  how  much  money  it  takes  to  do  all  this. 
We  first  find  that  all  the  money  in  existence  in  the  United 
States  at  the  present  time,  outside  of  the  national  Treas- 
ury, is  about  $2,000,000,000.  The  money  necessary  to 
pay  the  running  expense  of  the  national  government  at 
the  present  time  is  about  $600,000,000  annually,  or  about 
one-third  of  the  amount  in  existence,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
expense  of  running  the  state  and  county  and  city  govern- 
ments, and  the  exchange  of  products  and  services  between 
the  people. 

"We  next  find  that  our  producers  and  business  men 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


27 


are  borrowing,  in  order  to  make  the  exchanges,  to  secure 
sufficient  money  to  do  so.  One  class  of  the  money  lend- 
ers own  banks,  where  money  is  loaned  on  short  time, 
usually  from  30  to  90  days  with  a  charge  for  the  use 
of  it.  Here  we  find,  by  the  report  of  the  Comptroller  of 
the  Currency,  just  issued,  that  our  business  men,  in  order 
to  get  sufficient  money  to  perform  the  exchanges,  have 
borrowed  $5,751,467,610,  or  about  three  times  as  much 
money  as  there  is  in  existence — have  borrowed  it  from 
the  bankers.    From  one  end  of  the  year  to  the  other,  the 


IT  KNOWS  WHAT  MONEY  IS. 


average  of  money  thus  obtained  with  which  to  make  the 
exchanges  is  about  three  times  the  actual  money  in 
existence.  There  are  about  12,804  of  these  banks,  and 
from  their  reports  to  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency, 
we  get  these  facts.  There  are  many  other  money  lend- 
ers who  are  not  bankers  and  who  mainly  loan  on  longer 
time,  but  the  banks  loan  mainly  to  business  men.  What 
little  they  loan  to  other  than  business  men  is  more  than 


28  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

offset  by  money  the  business  men  borrow  from  other  than 
bankers. 

"So  that  we  find,  in  addition  to  the  $2,000,000,000  in 
existence,  that  has  been  issued  from  the  Treasury,  of 
money  of  all  kinds,  gold,  silver,  nickel,  copper  and  paper, 
it  takes  as  much  as  $5,750,000,000  more  to  answer  the 
purpose  of  the  business  men  in  making  the  exchanges 
of  services  and  products.  And,  in  order  to  get  the  addi- 
tional $5,750,000,000,  the  business  men  who  are  not 
bankers  are  paying  to  the  bankers  annually,  in  interest, 
the  sum  of  three  hundred  and  forty-five  million  dollars. 
It  is  this  much,  at  the  average  rate  of  six  per  cent.  Some 
are  paying  more  than  this  rate  and  some  less.  It  will 
average  six  per  cent. 

"You  will  naturally  ask  yourself  the  question,  'How 
can  the  banks  loan  $5,751,467,610,  when  there  are  only 
$2,000,000,000  in  existence?'  When  I  have  answered 
that  question  you  will  understand  why  the  money  lenders 
want  to  hold  down  the  supply  of  money. 

"A  bank  loans,  say,  $10,000  to  the  Revell  Furniture 
Company.  It  takes  the  Furniture  Company's  note  for 
that  amount,  deducts  $600  for  interest  at  6  per  cent, 
which  they  call  discount,  and  pays  Mr.  Revell  $9,400. 
The  $600,  remains  in  the  bank,  the  money  of  the  bank, 
and  Mr.  Revell  deposits  the  $9,400  to  his  credit,  on  which 
he  draws  checks.  So  that  none  of  the  money  has  thus 
far  passed  out  of  the  bank.  A  few  minutes  thereafter 
the  manager,  we  will  say,  of  the  McClure  Book  Com- 
pany, walks  into  the  bank  and  asks  for  a  loan  of  $10,000. 
The  bank  complies  with  the  request,  takes  the  note  of  the 
McClure  Book  Company  for  $10,000,  takes  $600  out  of 
the  loan  and  hands  the  manager  of  the  book  company  a 
slip  to  the  paying  teller  for  $9,400.  The  book  manager 
has  the  $9,400  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  McClure  Book 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  29 

Company,  sees  that  it  is  entered  on  his  pass-book  and 
walks  out.  Again  the  bank  h&s  retained  $600  and  the 
$9,400  is  left  in  the  bank  to  be  checked  on. 

"Thus  far  not  a  cent  has  left  the  bank  and  the  bank 
has  made  $1,200.  As  the  manager  of  the  book  company 
is  leaving  the  bank,  in  walks,  say,  Mr.  Kohlsaat,  the  pub- 
lisher of  a  Chicago  newspaper,  and  he,  too,  asks  for  a 
loan  of  $10,000.  The  bank  'accommodates'  him.  He, 
too,  signs  a  note  for  $10,000  and  gets  a  check  on  the 
paying  teller  for  $9,400,  which  he  has  credited  to  him- 
self on  his  pass-book  and  walks  out.  The  bank  has  now 
loaned  $10,000  three  times,  has  received  $1,800  in  inter- 
est, and  not  a  dollar  of  the  money  has  as  yet  left  the 
bank. 

"Usually  business  men  borrow  from  the  bank  at  which 
they  keep  their  accounts.  But  whether  this  always  hap- 
pens or  not,  about  80  per  cent  of  all  money  in  existence 
stays  in  the  banks.  You  may  give  a  check  on  your  account 
to  some  one  who  deposits  it  in  another  bank,  but  on  the 
average  the  bank  you  use  will  have  as  much  deposited 
during  the  day  in  money,  and  checks  on  other  banks,  as 
is  drawn  from  it.  Probably  not  to  exceed  an  average  of 
FIVE  dollars  per  capita  is  carried  by  the  people  in  their 
pockets;  which  for  seventy  millions  of  people  means 
three  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars  that  is  outside 
the  banks.  This  leaves  about  $1,650,000,000  that  remains 
as  an  average  in  the  banks.  A  little  is  filtering  in  and  a 
little  is  filtering  out,  answering  for  pocket  money,  or 
temporarily  for  cash  transactions  requiring  the  money 
itself,  but  the  bulk  of  the  money,  or  as  much  as  80  per 
cent  of  it,  remains  in  the  banks.  And  in  this  way  it 
is  made  possible  for  the  bank  to  loan  to  the  Revell  Furni- 
ture  Company,  the  AlcClure  Book   Company  and  Mr. 


30  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

Kohlsaat  each  $10,000,  be  $1,800  ahead  in  the  joint  trans- 
action and  still  have  the  $10,000  on  hand. 

"It  cannot  repeat  the  process  any  further,  as  experience 
in  banking  shows  that  from  25  to  35  per  cent  of  as  much 
money  should  be  kept  on  hand  as  there  is  on  deposit ;  and 
the  bankers  have  permitted  Congress  to  say  that  25  per 
cent  of  a  reserve  shall  be  kept  on  hand.  If  the  original 
$10,000,  loaned,  belonged  to  a  depositor,  say,  by  the  name 
of  John  Smith,  after  the  bank  has  loaned  it  three  times, 
its  books  will  show  as  follows : 

To  the  credit  of  John  Smith $10,000 

To  the  credit  of  Revell  Furniture  Co.  9,400 

To  the  credit  of  McClure  Book  Co..  9,400 

To  the  credit  of  Mr.  Kohlsaat 9,400 


Total  amount  subject  to  check.  . .   $38,200 

> 

The  bank  will  have  John  Smith's  $10,000  on  hand,  a 
little  more  than  25  per  cent  of  the  amount  subject  to 
check.  If  the  original  $10,000  loaned,  the  three  times, 
belonged  to  the  bank,  it  will  have  in  money  about  35  per 
cent  of  a  reserve.  The  bankers  estimate  that  the  money 
coming  in  and  going  out  of  their  banks  will  about  ofifset 
each  other,  but  that  in  any  event  25  per  cent  of  cash  on 
hand  is  sufficient  leeway  to  be  enabled  at  all  times  to 
cash  the  current  checks  of  the  day  with  actual  money; 
except  in  time  of  panics  causing  runs  on  the  bank.  This 
they  take  chances  on,  but  of  late  are  devising  a  clearing 
house  certificate  plan  so  as  not  to  be  much  disturbed  by 
such  a  contingency. 

"So  we  understand  how  it  is  that  the  bank  takes 
$10,000  and  stretches  it  out  three  times  and  get  6  per 
cent  on  each  transaction  or  18  per  cent  in  all  on  the 
actual  amount  of  money  used.     And  by  deducting  the 


MUNEY,  Ti'lUSTS,  lAli'iiRlALISxM.  ol 

interest  in  advance,  gets  about  20  per  cent,  or  about  six 
and  two-thirds  per  cent  on  each  transaction. 

"And,"  continued  the  httle  financier,  "in  this  way  the 
banks  take  the  $2,000,000,000  in  existence  in  the  United 
States,  or  rather  the  $1,650,000,000,  about,  in  the  banks, 
and  stretch  it  out  Hke  a  piece  of  rubber,  till  it  is  $5,751,- 
467,610;  and  receive  in  discounts,  about,  three  hundred 
and  forty-five  million  dollars  annually  for  performing  the 
stretching  process.  One  end  of  the  rubber  they  are 
stretching  is  against  the  faces  of  the  people  and  the 
bankers  hold  the  other  end — and,  periodically,  the  bank- 
ers let  loose  of  their  end.  The  depositors  think  they 
have  $5,751,467,610  of  money  on  deposit,  but  they  have 
not.  It  is  not  money.  The  banks  have  loaned  the  same 
money  three  times. 

"What  all  this  means  is  that  experience  shows  that  it 
takes  as  much  as  $5,750,000,000,  added  to  the  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  million,  the  probable  amount  in  the  pockets 
of  the  people,  or  in  all  about  six  billion  dollars,  to  perform 
the  exchanges  of  the  people  in  the  United  States,  and  to 
get  that  much — a  normal  supply  of  money — the  people 
are  paying  to  the  bankers,  in  interest,  as  much  as  three 
hundred  and  forty-five  million  dollars  annually. 

"You  will  thus  understand  why  it  is  that  the  bankers 
are  interested  in  holding  down  the  quantity  of  money, 
of  closing  the  mints  to  silver,  or  of  otherwise  limiting  the 
supply  of  money.  It  is  in  order  that  they  may  supply 
the  deficiency  by  loaning  the  same  money  over  and  over 
again  and  again.  And  this  is  only  one  of  the  ways  in 
which  the  bankers  are  profiting  by  laws  that  work  a 
benefit  to  their  class." 

Thus  far  COIN  had  proceeded  without  any  interrup- 
tion. Mr.  John  D.  Laws,  a  bank  president,  here  rose  and 
vigorously  propounded  several  questions.    He  said: 


o2 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


"Is  it  not  a  fact  that  by  having  banks  in  which  to  deposit 
money  and  the  use  of  checks,  in  place  of  handhng  money, 
that  the  use  of  money  is  enlarged  and  business  facili- 
tated?" 

"Yes,"  replied  COIN,  "but  postal  savings  banks  would 
answer  the  same  purpose.  And  such  a  system  would  not 
cost  the  people  any  more  than  what  the  banks  now  collect 


PERIODICALLY  THEY  LET  LOOSE  OF  THEIR  END. 

in  the  way  of  exchange  on  drafts."  Many  of  the  people 
present  lustily  applauded  this  answer.  And  then  COIN 
added:  "We  could  have  a  normal  supply  of  money,  a 
place  to  deposit  it  in  postal  savings  banks  for  safe  keep- 
ing, draw  checks  on  it,  the  same  as  now,  and  do  away 
with  a  privileged  class,  that  is  imposing  unnecessarily  on 
our  business  men  a  charge  of  as  much  as  $345,000,000 
annually;  who  are  responsible  for  the  demonetization 
of  silver  and  otherwise  meddling,  interfering  and  clog- 


MONEY,  TRUSTS.  IMPERIALISM.  33 

ging  a  natural  money  supply."  This  also  was  applauded. 
But  Mr.  Laws  remained  standing. 

"It  makes  no  difference  how  large  the  volume  of 
money  may  be,"  said  Mr.  Laws,  "there  would  be  men 
without  it,  or  without  sufficient  at  times,  and  they  would 
have  to  borrow  money  to  tide  them  over.  And  without 
banks  to  loan  money  there  would  be  no  elasticity  to  our 
currency?  The  banking  system  that  we  have  is  not  an 
evil,  as  you  make  it,  but  a  necessity  and  a  benefit."  He 
made  this  statement  and  paused,  still  standing. 

'Tf  we  had  a  normal  supply  of  money,"  replied  COIN, 
'■'there  would  be  no  general  necessity  for  borrowing 
money.  And  those  who  might  require  loans  to  tide  them 
over  should  be  allowed  to  borrow  from  the  postal  sav- 
ings banks  at  one  per  cent  per  annum,  the  same  rate  at 
which  the  banks  now  borrow  from  the  government."  The 
quick  retort  of  the  little  fellow  flashed  before  the  audi- 
ence and  then  went  home.  There  were  many  present 
who  knew  what  he  meant,  as  did  the  banker,  and  later 
on  in  the  School  this  privilege  of  the  bankers  to  borrow 
money  from  the  government  at  one  per  cent  a  year,  was 
explained.  COIN  had  not  finished  with  his  answer,  and 
proceeded : 

"If  there  was  a  normal  supply  of  money  in  existence 
there  would  not  be  that  enforced  borrowing  that  now 
exists,  with  such  a  tribute  imposed  on  the  people  as  is 
$345,000,000,  or  more,  annually.  And  if  the  postal 
banks  loaned  money,  on  approved  collateral,  such  as  the 
banks  would  loan  money  on,  and  loaned  it  at  one  or  two 
per  cent,  it  would  be  a  better  system  than  the  one  we  now 
have.  It  would  drive  out  of  business  the  money  lenders 
who  could  not  compete  with  the  postal  banks  at  one  per 
cent  or  two  per  cent,  and  would  practically  put  an  end  to 
the  class  known  as  money  lenders,  except  those  who 


34  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

deposit  in  savings  banks  for  a  rainy  day.  It  would  end 
the  existence  of  a  class  of  men  who  are  imposing  an 
assessment  of  as  much  as  $345,000,000,  annually,  on  the 
business  industry  of  the  nation.  You  say,"  he  continued, 
looking  directly  at  Mr.  Laws,  "that  your  class  is  a  'bene- 
fit'? Your  class  encourages  the  borrowing  of  money  at 
a  rate,  that  as  a  rule,  the  net  profits  of  useful  business 
will  not  repay,  and  'once  in  debt,  always  in  debt,'  with  the 
debt  increasing,  is  the  rule.  If  a  better  system  can  be 
substituted  for  it,  your  class  will  not  be  missed.  You 
are  a  nice  people  and  an  honorable  set  of  gentlemen  and 
we  must  continue  to  do  business  with  you,  more  or  less, 
until  another  system  is  adopted.  It  is  not  you,  but  the 
system,  that  is  wrong.  A  system  that  has  encouraged  you 
to  secure  and  defend  the  laws  that  profit  your  class.  Your 
class  does  not  make  anything  to  eat  or  wear,  and  never 
made  a  blade  of  grass  grow.  You  claim  to  be  a  necessary 
part  of  civilization  in  that  you  accommodate  business  men 
by  receiving  their  money,  cashing  their  checks,  and  loan- 
ing them  money.  But  if  another  system  can  be  substi- 
tuted for  yours  that  does  all  that  your  system  does  with- 
out the  evil  that  your  system  is  charged  with,  what 
objection  could  there  be  to  it?" 

"The  postal  banks,"  Mr.  Laws  replied,  "would  not  be 
safely  conducted  as  are  banks  of  private  ownership,  and 
bad  loans  would  be  made,  resulting  in  great  loss  to  the 
government." 

"You  are  wrong,  for  this  reason,"  replied  COIN :  "Ex- 
perience shows  that  the  government  bank  examiners  are 
a  check  on  banks  and  that  bad  loans  are  quickly  detected, 
as  postal  examiners  quickly  detect  fraud  in  that  service. 
And  again,  the  temptation  to  reduce  the  reserve,  that  more 
profits  might  be  made,  would  not  exist  in  the  postal 
banks,  as  is  the  case  now  with  present  banks.    And  again, 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  35 

with  a  normal  suppl}'  of  money,  there  would  be  very  httle 
borrowing;  and  a  higher  order  of  integrity  generally. 

"We  in  America,"  he  continued,  "ought  to  all  agree 
that  it  would  be  good  for  England  to  pass  a  law  that 
would  break  up  the  entailed  estates  and  make  it  possible 
for  more  people  to  own  homes.  Do  away  with  a  landed 
aristocracy.  And  we  ought  to  agree  if  there  is  good 
reason  for  it,  that  there  should  be  a  normal  supply  of 
money,  and  a  class  of  men  abolished  who  have  it  in  their 
power  to  assess  our  people  as  much  as  $345,000,000,  annu- 
ally. Thus  making  it  possible  for  our  people  to  get  more 
money,  the  greatest  agency  there  is,  made  by  man,  in 
civilization." 

"I  would  like  to  ask,"  said  Edward  G.  Renesch,  a 
young  man  about  20  years  of  age,  "if  one  per  cent  a 
year  would  pay  the  expense  of  the  government  connected 
with  loaning  money  through  the  postal  banks?" 

"Yes,"  replied  COIN.  "The  government  now  loans 
to  national  banks  money  at  the  rate  of  one  per  cent  per 
annum,  and  the  one  per  cent  more  than  pays  all  the  ex- 
penses and  risk  connected  therewith.  It  costs  about  two- 
fifths,  and  the  banks  are  now  asking  Congress  to  reduce 
the  rate  from  one  per  cent  per  annum  to  two-fifths  of  one 
per  cent.  And  some  of  the  banks  want  it  reduced  to  one- 
tenth  of  one  per  cent.  The  one  per  cent  per  annum  is 
ample  to  cover  all  expenses  and  risk  incurred,  when  put 
on  a  business  basis. 

"The  remedy,"  h^e  continued,  "is  postal  savings  banks, 
that  will  receive  the  savings  of  the  people  and  pay  interest 
at  the  rate  of  two  or  three  per  cent  on  savings  of  those 
who  deposit  their  money,  on  long  time,  as  is  now  done 
in  savings  banks.  Reloan  such  money  on  long  time  at  the 
same  rate  with  one  per  cent  added.  And  receive  money 
deposited,  subject  to  check,  paying  no  interest  thereon. 


36  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

as  is  now  the  case  in  the  present  banks,  and  loaning  such 
money  to  business  men  on  short  paper,  30  to  90  days,  at 
one  and  not  to  exceed  two  per  cent.  The  working  people 
who  would  put  their  savings  in  the  postal  banks  would  be 
protected  and  not  be  subjected  to  risk  and  loss  as  they 
are  now  in  the  present  banks.  Our  business  men  would 
get  all  the  money  their  paper  w'ould  warrant,  at  not  to 
exceed  two  per  cent,  and  probably  at  one  per  cent.  And 
with  a  normal  amount  of  money  being  in  circulation 
there  would  be  less  borrowing." 

Mn  Henry  C.  Simms  of  Huntington,  West  Va.,  now 
rose  and  said: 

"The  true  principle  of  Democracy  is  to  have  as  few 
laws  as  possible.  Inhibitions  and  prohibitions,  and  a 
law-ruled  people  is  the  opposite  of  Democracy.  The  gov- 
ernment should  have  a  hand  in  as  few  things  as  possible 
and  let  the  people  run  themselves.  And  for  this  reason 
I  object  to  the  government  going  into  the  banking  busi- 
ness."    And  saying  this  he  sat  down. 

"In  the  main  you  are  right,"  replied  COIN.  "There 
are  certain  things,  however,  that  the  government  must  do. 
It  is  best  that  it  should  do  so,  and,  where  to  do  so  en- 
courages individual  effort.  Democracy  consists  in  pro' 
tecting  the  individual  in  enjoying  life,  liberty  and  happi- 
ness. It  is  in  doing  this  that  the  government  provides  for 
money.  The  issuing  of  money  is  a  government  function. 
It  guarantees  a  common  medium  of  exchange  through- 
out the  nation.  And,  it  is  as  important  to  protect  the 
money  as  it  is  to  make  it.  We  are  now  a  law-ruled 
people  placed  at  the  mercy  of  the  banks.  When  you  take 
away  the  laws  from  under  the  banks,  they  disappear. 
When  you  do  so,  we  should  be  ready  with  a  substitute, 
that  everything  may  go  off  smoothly  on  putting  in  the 
new  machinery.    In  the  case  of  money,  legal  machinery 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


37 


of  some  kind  is  necessary,  and  it  is  best  to  get  better  and 
more  improved  machinery  than  that  which  we  now  have. 
A  democracy  cannot  get  along  without  laws  entirely.  It 
must  have  a  constitution  and  a  few  other  laws;  and  the 
most  important  of  all,  is  the  law  that  provides  for  issuing 
and  protecting  its  money.  Either  the  government  must 
run  the  banks  or  the  banks  will  run  the  government." 

A  boy  by  the  name  of  George  Baldwin,  sitting  in  one 
of  the  front  seats,  wanted  to  know  if  the  postal  bank- 
ing system  had  not  been  established  in  England. 

"What  is  called    a  postal    banking    system,"    replied 
COIN,  "has  been  established  in  England,  and  the  same 
system  is  being  encouraged  by  the  bankers  in  this  coun- 
try.   It  is  this :    Postal  banks  to  receive  savings  and  pay 
interest  at  the  rate  of  2  per  cent ;  but  the  function  of 
the  postal  banks  to  stop  at  that;  to  loan  no  money  and 
take    no    money    subject    to 
every  day  checks.     The  na- 
tional banks  are  interested  in 
getting  all  the  money  deposi- 
ted with  them  that  they  can, 
to  reloan  on  the  'i8  per  cent 
plan,'  and  they  find  that  many 
people  save  money  at  home 
and  will  not  trust  it  with  the 
present  banks.    And,  in  time 
of  panics  draw  their  money 
out  of  the  present  banks.  The 
bankers'    plan    of   a    savings 
bank — the    same    as    that    in 
England — is  to  get  the  people 
who  are  afraid  of  the  present  banks  to  deposit  it  in  the 
government's  postal  savings  banks,  thus  having  the  gov- 
ernment  responsible  to   the  depositors,   insuring  confi- 


BY  GOSH,  I  WASN'T  ON  TO  'EM 
BEFORE! 


38  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

dence ;  and  then  having  this  same  money  redeposited  by 
the  government  in  the  national  banks.  This  is  the  way 
it  is  in  England  and  the  way  the  bankers  want  it  in  this 
country." 

As  COIN  closed  the  last  sentence,  an  old  gentleman 
with  long  pointed  chin  whiskers  who  sat  immediately  in 
front  of  him  was  audibly  moved  and  heard  all  over  the 
hall  as  he  pulled  at  the  end  of  his  beard  and  said:  *'By 
gosh,  I  wasn't  on  to  'em  before !" 

"The  bankers,"  continued  the  little  financier,  "do  not 
object  to  the  postal  banking  system  so  long  as  it  assists 
their  system,  but  do  object  to  it  if  it  is  to  compete  with 
them." 

Here  COIN  was  again  interrupted,  this  time  by  Mr. 
Hamilton  Myers,  who  said  he  was  from  Texas,  with  this 
question :  "I  do  not  understand  clearly  how  it  is  that  the 
banks  loan  the  same  money  three  times,  and  wish  you 
would  explain  it  again." 

COIN  again  explained  it,  very  much  the  same  as  be- 
fore, but  went  further,  as  evidently  from  his  preparation 
he  intended  to  do  when  interrupted.  Additional  to  what 
he  had  said  is  the  following: 

"According  to  the  Treasury  report  just  issued,  the  total 
stock  of  money  in  the  United  States,  outside  of  the  na- 
tional Treasury,  is  $1,^6^,^16,148.  I  heretofore  said  it 
was  about  $2,000,000,000,  which  was  stating  the  sum  in 
round  numbers,  and  taking  Mr.  Gage's  statement  as  true, 
for  its  full  significance. 

"Mr.  Chas.  G.  Dawes,  the  Comptroller  of  the  Cur- 
rency, has  recently  issued  his  report  and  from  it  I  read 
you  the  following  paragraphs  from  pages  21  and  22: 

"Number  of  banks,  12,804;  total  loans  and  discounts, 
$5,751,467,610. 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  39 

"Number  of  banks,  12,804;    total  individual  deposits, 

$7.5i3>954>36i." 

The  little  schoolmaster  then  took  from  his  portfolio  a 
card  containing  the  three  statements  of  national  Treasury 
officials,  and  put  the  card  on  an  easel.  Continuing  he 
said : 

"I  now  ask  any  banker  present  how  it  is  possible  to 
take  $1,963,716,148  and  make   deposits   with  it  to  the 

[I  TWO    STATEMENTS. 

'      The  total  stock  of  money  in  tlie 
United     States     outside     the 

treasury,  Nov.  1,  1899,  is $1,963,716,148 

L.   J.   GAGE, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Total     loans     and     discounts     of 
12, oM     banks     in     the     United 

States  are $5,751,467,610 

The  total   individual  deposits   of 

the   12,804   banks   are 7,513,954,301 

CHARLES    G.    DAWES, 
Comptroller  of  the  Currency.        i!i 
Sept.   7.   1899.  g 

\ 

amount  of  $7,513,954,361  in  any  other  way  than  that 
which  I  have  explained?  And  I  put  the  same  question 
to  the  daily  newspapers  that  will  appear  to-morrow  morn- 
ing in  this  city." 

No  one  answered  the  little  fellow,  though  all  were 
listening  intently  at  what  he  was  saying,  and  he  had 
paused  for  a  reply.     He  continued : 

"If  you  will  take  the  deposits,  $7,513,954,361,  and  de- 


•iO  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

duct  the  loans  and  discounts,  $5,751,467,610,  you  will  get 
the  actual  amount  of  money  in  the  hands  of  the  banks. 
I  will  show  you  the  result,"'  he  said,  and  drew  another 
card  from  the  portfolio  and  put  in  on  the  easel. 

Deposits $7,513,954,361 

Loans  and  discounts 5,751,467,610 

Money  in  the  banks $1,762,486,751. 


A    FIXAXCIAL    STATEMENT. 

Deposits  $7,513,954,361 

Loans  and  discounts 5,751,467,610 

Money  in  the  banks $1,762,486,751 

OR    THIS    WAY: 

Money  in  the  banks |1,7C2,4?6,751 

Loans  and  discounts 5,751,467,610 

Total  deposits $7,513,954,361 


"The  $1,762,486,751  represents  the  quantity  of  money 
the  bankers  have  stretched  out  by  their  process  to  repre- 
sent $7,513,954,361  on  deposit  with  them;  and  in  like 
manner  are  enabled  to  collect  interest  and  discounts  on 
$5,751,467,610.  Or  another  way  to  state  it  is  this:  The 
loans  of  $5,751,467,610  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  bor- 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  41 

rowers,  added  to  the  real  quantity  used,  makes  the  total 
deposits  $7,513,954,361." 

"Then,  as  I  understand  you, '  said  Judge  Dunne  of 
Chicago,  "it  is  really  not  money  they  loan,  but  credit?" 

"Wind ! !''  yelled  ^Ir.  J.  P.  Vandusen,  who  sat  in  the 
rear  of  the  audience. 

"What  they  do,"  said  COIN,  "is  to  substitute  credit  for 
the  money  necessary  to  run  the  commerce  and  business 
of  the  nation,  at  an  annual  expense  to  the  people,  at  pres- 
ent, of  about  345  million  dollars.  A  normal  amount  of 
money  would  take  the  place  of  the  credit  with  no  special 
privilege  to  this  class  of  men,  or  such  ruinous  expense  to 
the  people. 

"I  will  now  take  the  case  of  an  individual  bank,"  he 
continued,  "and  show  you  how  a  bank  can  loan  money  at 
six  per  cent  and  declare  dividends  for  more  than  six  per 
cent." 

"That's  the  stuft!"  said  John  P.  Hennessey,  an  ex- 
retail  merchant  in  Chicago,  who  was  sold  out  for  debt 
after  renewing  his  loans  for  many  years  with  the  banks. 

"]\Ir.  Lyman  J.  Gage,"  continued  COIN,  "is  the  present 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  We  will  take  his  bank,  the 
First  National  Bank  of  this  city.  I  will  first  put  on  the 
easel  the  statement  of  that  bank  just  issued."  He  paused, 
and  taking  another  one  of  the  large  cards,  with  letters 
and  figures  on  it  so  large  that  all  could  see  them  from 
their  seats,  placed  it  on  the  easel. 

"The  statement,  as  you  will  observe,"  continued  the  lit- 
tle statesman,  "does  not  give  the  dividends.  I  will  now 
read  you  from  a  book  issued  by  the  Chicago  Directory 
Company,  entitled,  'Chicago  Securities.'  It  says  under  the 
head  of  'The  First  National  Bank,'  'quarterly  dividends 
of  J  per  cent  are  paid/  which  amounts  to  12  per  cent 


43 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


per  annum.     I  will  also  state  that  tzvelve  per  cent  is  the 
usual,  regular  annual  dividends  of  that  bank. 

"We  further  see  from  the  statement,  on  the  easel,  that 
it  has  a  surplus  fund  of  $2,000,000.  A  surplus  fund,  in 
a  bank  statement,  means  undivided  profits.  We  also  see 
that  in  addition  to  the  $2,000,000  undivided  profits,  it 
has  'other  undivided  profits'  of  $505,855.67;  or  a  total  of 
undivided  profits  of  $2,505,855.67;  or  the  equivalent  of 


STATEMENT  OF  FIRST  NATIONAL  BANK 

ASSETS. 

Leans  and  discounts...^ J21,824.263.7S 

United  States  bonds  (par  value) 573,500.00 

Otter  bonds  and  Blocks  (market  vjlae) ,      3,76(.202.7} 

Premium  on  United  States  bonds 64.218 .  76 

Due  from  banks  (eastern  excta.)  .(9^93,442.39 

Checks  tor  clearing-bouse 1,881,047.87 

Cash  cm  hand 8,604.749.74 

Dae  from  United  States  Ucasurer.       38.500.00  tl9.917,T40.00 
«4».135,926.21 
LIABILITIES. 

Capita!  stock  paid  In '. f  J.OOO.OOO.OO 

Surplus  (und 2,000.000.00 

Other  uDdi>lded  proflts 505,855.67 

Circulating   notes (   110.000. 0» 

Leas  amount  on  hand 110.000.00 

DeposiU , 43,630.069-54 

.149,135,925.21 


,uiut.;tj-,^Jihin'iM\\i'Jiiy/)'i!x'x'jV- 


a  special  dividend  of  eighty-three  per  cent  on  its  capital 
stock  of  $3,000,000,  with  which  it  is  carrying  on  its  money 
lending  business. 

"The  present  First  National  Bank  of  Chicago  was  or- 
ganized in  May,  1882,  and  its  shares  of  $100  each  are  now 
worth  $330  each.  You  cannot  buy  it  for  less.  So,  we 
see  by  taking  an  individual  case,  how  men  of  this  class 
can  make  twelve  per  cent  a  year  on  their  money  invested 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  43 

in  this  business,  pay  $25,000  salary  to  their  president,  pay 
all  other  expenses,  lay  aside  83  per  cent  in  undivided 
profits,  and  at  the  end  of  seventeen  years  be  able  to  market 
their  stock  for  three  and  three-tenths  times  its  face  value. 
There  is  no  other  business  in  the  United  States  outside 
of  the  privileged  classes  that  can  make  this  remarkable 
showing.  It  is  a  business  founded  wholly  on  class  laws 
for  the  benefit  of  bankers.  Under  such  a  law  it  is  only 
a  question  of  time  when  one  per  cent  of  the  people  will 
own  all  the  property  and  99  per  cent  of  the  people  will  be 
tenants." 

Referring  again  to  the  First  National  Bank  statement, 
COIN  said:  "From  the  $8,604,749.74  cash  on  hand  de- 
duct the  capital  and  undivided  profits  of  $5,505,855.67 
and  you  have  the  amount  of  actual  money  on  deposit  addi- 
tional to  what  belongs  to  the  bank.  You  will  observe  that 
the  'loans  and  discounts'  are  just  about  three  times  the 
cash — showing  that  each  dollar  is  loaned  three  separate 
times.  Mr.  Gage  is  now  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  at 
Washington,  and  is  doing  all  he  can,  with  the  influence 
the  position  gives  him,  to  protect  and  further  advance 
the  laws  that  benefit  his  class,  and  enables  them  to  manip- 
ulate the  blood  of  civilization  to  their  profit. 

ONE    PER    CENT    MONEY. 

"Another  special  privilege  this  class  of  men  has  is  to 
borrow  money  from  the  government  at  one  per  cent  per 
anmim.  They  have  long  had  a  law  to  that  effect.  Under 
the  law  they  do  it  in  this  way :  They  take  government 
bonds  to  the  Treasury  at  Washington  and  borrow  up  to 
90  per  cent  of  their  face  value,  money  on  which  they  pay 
ONE  per  cent  per  annum,  continue  to  draw  interest  on 
the  bonds  and  are  exempt  from  taxation. 

"Under  this  law  a  banker  can  take  $100,000  in  govern- 


44  MONEY,  TRUSTS.  IMPERIALISM. 

ment  bonds  to  Washington,  on  which  he  is  drawing  and 
will  continue  to  draw,  4  per  cent,  with  principal  and  in- 
terest exempt  from  taxation,  will  receive  from  the  national 
Treasurer  $90,000  in  money,  and  will  pay  one  per  cent 
per  annum  for  the  loan,  or  $900  per  year.  He  will  bring 
this  same  money  home  and  loan  it  three  times  over  at  from 
6  to  8  per  cent  on  each  of  the  three  transactions.  And, 
after  paying  running  expenses,  will,  if  his  bank  is  as 
fortunate  as  the  First  National  Bank  of  Chicago,  make 
twelve  per  cent,  or  $10,800,  each  year  on  the  $90,000, 
with  an  additional  profit  covered  into  the  'surplus  and 
undivided  profit  fund,'  from  which  every  few  years  it 
may  declare  a  special  dividend.  Nor  is  this  all.  He 
will  also  be  receiving  in  the  meantime  the  four  per  cent 
Of  $4,000  interest  on  the  bonds  deposited  at  Washington." 

COIN  was  interrupted  by  a  Mr.  Racey,  who  had  been 
sitting  almost  directly  in  front  of  the  platform,  but  who 
was  now  standing,  red  in  the  face.  Mr.  Racey  is  a 
smooth,  polished  man  and  president  of  a  bank  as  pros- 
perous as  is  the  First  National  Bank  of  Chicago,  but 
was  now  excited  and  not  in  his  usual  pleasant  mood.  He 
said: 

"Your  statement  is  unfair,  and  there  is  no  such  profit 
on  the  money  the  banks  get  from  the  government  as  you 
state." 

COIN  interrupted  Mr.  Racey  by  saying:  "Mr.  Racey, 
I  want  you  to  answer  me  a  few  questions,  and  then  I  will 
answer  all  of  yours.  Is  it  not  true  that  you  do  get  money 
from  the  government  in  the  manner  I  have  described  for 
one  per  cent  per  annum?" 

"Yes,"  replied  Mr.  Racey. 

"And  is  it  not  true  that  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency 
has  recommended  to  Congress  to  reduce  the  rate  from 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  ^^ 

ONE  per  cent  per  annum  to  tzvo-Hfths  of  one  per  cent 

per  annum  ?" 

"Yes,  something  like  that,"  was  the  reply. 
"Now  I  will  answer  your  questions,"  said  COIN. 
"In  the  first  place,"  said  Mr.  Racey,  "you  have  not 
stated  that  $100,000  of  these  4  per  cent  bonds  costs  to 
buy  them  $113,125 ;  that  they  are  due  in  1907,  and  when 
due  will  be  paid  by  the  government  at  their  face  value, 
$100,000.  Hence  to  get  the  bonds  now  and  have  the 
use  of  them  for  seven  years,  a  premium  of  $13,125  must 
be  paid,  which  will  be  a  clear  loss  at  the  end  of  seven 
years.  There  is  also  an  expense  of  $62.50  in  connection 
with  the  transfer  of  the  money." 

"Let  us  dispose  of  the  first  proposition,"  said  COIN, 
"before  complicating  it  with  the  $62.50.     It  is  true  that 
the  $100,000  in  bonds  will  cost  you  $1 13,125.    And  if  you 
lost  the  whole  of  the  $13,125  premium  it  would  be  a 
charge  of  $1,875  per  year  for  each  of  the  seven  years, 
a-ainst  the  $10,800  and  $4,000,  or  a  balance  of  $11,925 
annual  profit  on  an  investment  of  $113,125,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  special  dividends  from  surplus  profits.     But  is  it 
true  that  you  lose  the  $13,125?     Were  that  the  case  I 
would  have  embraced  it  in  my  first  statement.    This  is 
the  way  you  avoid  paying  it.    When  the  bonds  used  by 
the  banks  for  this  purpose  approach  within  seven,  eight 
or  ten  years  of  maturity,  the  national  Treasurer  has  each 
time  recommended  to  Congress  that  he  be  granted  per- 
mission to  go  into  the  market  and  buy  the  bonds  at  the 
.  market  price;  and  this  has  been  done.  And  it  has  relieved 
you  of  any  loss.     Mr.  Gage  is  now  recommending  to 
Congress  that  he  be  permitted  to  do  this  with  the  1907 
bonds,  the  ones  now  mainly  in  use  for  the  bank-borrow- 
ing purpose.     He  assigns  the  same  reason  for  doing  so 
as  his  predecessors  have  used  before  him.     He  says  to 


46  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

Congress  that  he  can  refund  these  bonds  at  3  per  cent 
interest,  which  will  be  a  saving  of  one  per  cent  per  annum. 
On  being  granted  permission  he  will  buy  the  4  per  cent 
bonds  at  the  market  price,  which  usually  stiffens  at  such 
a  time;  and  then  the  bankers,  in  that  way,  unload  their 
4  per  cent  bonds  for  as  much  or  more  than  the  13I  cents 
premium,  losing  nothing  and  substituting  other  bonds. 
Mr.  Gage  has  not  waited  for  the  law  he  recommrnded; 
he  is  now  in  the  market  buying  1907  bonds.  He  has 
bought  twenty-five  million  dollars'  worth  of  them  recently 
to  relieve,  as  he  claims,  the  money  market,  paying  for 
them  the  market  premium." 

"But  if  the  government  saves  one  per  cent  by  the  trans- 
action, is  it  not  profitable  for  it  to  do  so?"  asked  Mr. 
Racey. 

"We  were  investigating  your  case,  not  the  govern- 
ment's, to  see  whether  it  was  true  that  the  $13,125,  or 
$1,875  P^r  year,  fell  against  you  as  a  loss.  It  does  not. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  each  time  saved  it  to 
you  at  the  expense  of  the  government — the  people.  We 
find  him  one  year  buying  bonds  and  the  next  year  issu- 
ing bonds.  The  new  bonds  issued  are  to  take  the  place  in 
your  business  of  the  old  bonds  bought  at  the  premium. 
The  statement  that  the  government  makes  a  saving  of  one 
per  cent  per  annum  for  the  seven  years  is  also  fiction. 
One  per  cent  per  annum  for  seven  years  on  $100,000  is 
$7,000,  but  the  government  pays  $13,125  premium,  which 
it  would  not  have  to  pay  if  it  waited  till  1907,  when  the 
bonds  are  due.  It  could  then  redeem  them  at  their  face 
value ;  the  $13,125  would  not  have  to  be  paid.  While  sav- 
ing $7,000,  the  government  has  lost  $13,125,  or  a  net 
lossof  $6,125.  Nor  is  this  the  only  loss.  The  new  bonds 
are  to  run  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty  years.  At  twenty  years, 
with  3  per  cent  per  annum,  it  is  $60,000,  as  against  4 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  47 

per  cent  for  seven  years,  or  $28,000.  At  thirty  years 
the  new  interest  obhgation  is  $90,000,  and  at  forty  years 
it  is  $120,000.  The  government  has  no  way  of  reloaning 
its  money  at  a  profit  at  present,  and  such  a  transaction 
as  Mr.  Gage  proposes  is  a  damage  and  loss.  The  gov- 
ernment should  issue  money  and  pay  off  the  bonds  when 
due  in  1907  and  incur  no  further  obligation," 

"In  showing  the  profits  to  the  bank,"  said  Mr.  Racey, 
"you,  in  your  first  statement,  computed  interest  at  12 
per  cent  on  the  $90,000  the  bank  receives  from  the  gov- 
ernment. Six  per  cent  and  not  12  per  cent  is  all  the  banks 
can  now  get  for  money  and  there  is  only  a  net  profit  to 
the  bank  on  the  transaction  of  $779.88." 

"I  use  12  per  cent  per  annum,"  replied  COIN,  "because 
the  banks  can  make  that  much  as  in  the  case  of  the  First 
National  Bank.  When  you  say  6  per  cent  is  all  you  get, 
you  do  not  take  the  people  wholly  into  your  confidence — 
how  you  loan  and  reloan  the  same  money." 

Mr.  Racey  was  seemingly  a  mixture  of  excitement  and 
confusion,  and  whether  he  had  failed  or  not  to  meet  the 
replies  of  the  little  teacher,  there  are  thousands  of  other 
bankers  who  will  take  up  the  cudgel,  but  will  each  tim.e 
find  themselves  up  against  the  proposition  that  they  bor- 
row money  at  i  per  cent  and  use  it  in  a  business  where 
they  loan  it  three  times.  The  bank  president,  however, 
had  one  more  question  to  put,  and  he  stated  it  with  much 
confidence.     It  was  this  : 

"The  banks  are  only  using  the  privilege  of  borrowing 
from  the  government  at  i  per  cent,  at  the  present  time, 
up  to  207  million  dollars,  while  they  have  the  privilege  of 
using  it  for  a  larger  sum.  If  there  is  such  a  profit  in 
it  as  you  say  there  is,  why  don't  they  borrow  more  than 
207  million  dollars?" 


48  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

''The  answer  to  that,"  repHed  COIN,  "is,  that  there  are 
two  other  sums  of  money  at  the  disposal  of  the  banks 
that  do  not  cost  them  as  much  as  i  per  cent ;  that  do  not 
cost  them  anything.  One  is  their  own  money,  which  they 
seek  to  loan  first,  and  the  other  is  their  depositors'  money, 
on  which  they  pay  no  interest.  After  using  these  two, 
loaning  them  three  times,  if  there  be  further  demand  for 
loans  they  next  use  the  government  i  per  cent  money. 
The  money  that  stands  them  nothing  may  take  all  the 
desirable  loans  offered ;  or,  in  addition  thereto,  they  may 
use  to  advantage  60  or  80  per  cent  of  what  they  can 
borrow  from  the  government,  at  i  per  cent,  and  no  more. 
There  is  a  limit  to  the  desirable  loans  offered,  and  the 
fact  that  all  the  i  per  cent  money  privilege  is  not 
exhausted,  is  no  reason  to  justify  the  privilege.  You 
could  offer  to  loan  me  money  at  one  per  cent  and  my  not 
taking  it  would  not  mean  that  it  was  not  a  low  rate  of 
interest.  If  the  government  offered  one  per  cent  money 
to  farmers,  it  would  not  be  just  unless  they  offered  it  to 
all  alike  who  could  give  ample  security.  You  can  only 
establish  a  true  government  with  equal  rights  to  all  and 
special  privileges  to  none.  National  banks  to  whom 
this  privilege  is  granted  are  by  law  not  allowed  to  loan 
money  on  real  estate,  and  are  limited  to  collaterals  and 
personal  notes  of  not  to  exceed  ninety  days,  which  may 
be  renewed,  and  there  is  a  limit  to  the  demand  for  busi- 
ness loans ;  and  when  that  limit  is  reached,  the  i  per  cent 
money  is  shut  off." 

Mr.  Racey  now  asked  this  question: 

"If  there  is  such  a  profit  in  banking,  why  do  banks 
sometimes  fail?" 

"When  a  bank  fails,"  replied  COIN,  "it  is  because  of 
bad  or  reckless  judgment  in  making  loans  or  the  use  of 
the  bank's  money  in  speculation  in  stocks  or  on  the  board 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


49 


of  trade  or  other  forms  of  gambHng-.  Very  few  of  them, 
however,  fail  compared  with  faikires  of  other  vocations ; 
and  in  the  aggregate  go  on  amassing  wealth." 

The  bank  president  had  taken  his  seat  and  COIN  con- 
tinued : 

"The  statements  I  have  made  are  unanswerable.  The 
advocates  of  the  political  party  that  sustains  our  pres- 
ent financial  laws  will  not  meet  the  advocates  of  our  cause 


HE  GETS  IT  AT  1 
PER  CENT. 


HE  LOANS  IT  AT  FROM 
6  TO  8  PER  CENT. 


in  debate.  You  may  challenge  them  and  they  will  not 
accept.  They  know  that  their  cause  will  not  bear  investi- 
gation. They  have  heretofore  succeeded  by  answering 
the  advocates  of  human  liberty  and  industrial  emancipa- 
tion with  abuse,  ostracism,  dealing  in  mystery  concern- 
ing the  financial  question,  and  aided  by  a  consciousness  on 
the  part  of  the  business  men  that  they  will  not  be  able  to 


50  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

obtain  loans  if  they  antagonize  the  bankers?  This  last 
is  the  most  powerful  influence  of  all,  as  money  is  so 
necessary  to  a  business  man's  existence,  that  in  the 
absence  of  a  normal  quantity  of  it  in  circulation  he  is  at 
the  mercy  of  those  who  have  hoarded  the  money  for  the 
purpose  of  loaning  it.  To  such  an  extent  is  this  true 
that  every  man  is,  more  or  less,  a  moral  coward  in  the 
presence  of  his  banker.  It  is  because  money  is  a  necessity 
to  civilization.  When  a  class  of  men  control  it,  the  mem- 
bers of  that  class  have  a  powerful  influence  in  controlling 
public  sentiment,  a  power  they  will  lose  when  our  business 
men  understand  the  money  question. 

"Let  me  warn  you,  however,  toward  allowing  any  feel- 
ing of  bitterness  or  resentment  on  your  part  toward  these 
men.  Their  responsibility  for  the  many  evils  that  have 
come  upon  the  land  is  great,  but  let  that  responsibility 
be  to  God  alone !  It  is  the  system  that  we  must  deal  with 
and  not  the  men  engaged  in  it !  The  people  are  the  vic- 
tims of  a  system  and  the  men  engaged  in  the  working  of 
that  system  are  not  responsible  for  it.  It  was  here  when 
they  were  born.  Had  you  been  raised  and  educated  in 
business  as  they  have  been  you  would  probably  be  as 
they  are.  Faith,  hope  and  charity  are  necessary  for  our 
success  in  this  struggle — Faith  in  the  rectitude  of  man- 
kind, Hope  that  we  may  be  encouraged,  and  Charity  for 
the  faults  of  others!" 

This  ended  the  school  for  the  day.  Class  legislation 
in  the  United  States  had  been  attacked.  The  audience 
that  rose  from  the  seats  was  divided  in  sentiment  and 
emotions. 

END  OF  SECOND  LESSON. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Third  Day. 

On  Wednesday  morning,  the  morning  of  the  third  day, 
the  daily  Chicago  papers,  representing  the  privileged 
classes,  broke  forth  in  all  their  fury.  So  long  as  it  was 
a  foreign  class  law  that  was  being  discussed,  as  on  the 
first  day,  they  were  unconcerned.  But  now  it  was  differ- 
ent. All  the  venom  and  spite  of  conscious  wrong  was 
to  be  hurled  at  the  champion  of  the  common  good.  The 
mailed  hand  of  the  money  power  was  ungloved. 

The  Inter  Ocean,  owned  by  Mr.  Yerkes,  whose  fortune 
is  based  upon  special  privileges  to  the  street  car  com- 
panies of  Chicago,  showed  passion  and  spleen.  The  Tri- 
bune, that  has  long  been  the  special  organ  of  the  priv- 
ileged classes,  was  bitter  and  abusive.  The  Times-Her- 
ald, that  claims  to  be  the  personal  organ  of  Mr.  Mark 
Hanna,  the  iron  trust  magnate,  seemingly  could  not  find 
words  sufficiently  strong  to  express  its  disapproval  of  the 
little  statesman.  It  is  true  that  neither  of  these  papers 
represented  the  money  power,  theirs  was  other  class  inter- 
ests, but  in  the  assault  the  little  fellow  had  made  on 
special  privileges  to  one  class,  the  money  power,  it  was 
foreseen  that  they  were  all  to  be  exposed.  And  they 
snarled  because  one  of  their  kind  was  being  disturbed. 

The  Record  was  more  mild.  The  Record  and  its 
evening  edition,  the  News,  is  owned  by  a  Mr.  Lawson, 
a  stockholder  in  one  of  the  largest  national  banks  in  Chi- 
cago. His  idea  of  controlling  the  masses  is  to  give  them 
nezvs,  and  to  have  no  editorial  opinion  on  politics  till  a 
few  days  before  the  election.    His  instructions  to  his  edi- 

51 


63  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

tors  are  to  write  judicial  and  conservative  editorials ;  and, 
about  two  weeks  before  an  election,  the  news  columns 
are  shaped  to  assist  the  political  party  that  favors  the 
banks.  This  is  followed,  a  few  days  before  the  election, 
by  vigorous  editorials  on  the  same  line.  This  is  Mr. 
Lawson's  policy  for  controlling  the  people  whose  backs 
are  bent  with  burdens  laid  upon  them  by  the  privileged 
classes.  So,  as  might  have  been  expected,  the  Record's 
editorials  were  conservative.  None  of  the  papers  accepted 
COIN'S  challenge  to  explain  how  it  was,  if  he  were  not 
right,  that  $7,513,954,361  deposits  could  be  made  in  the 
banks  with  $1,963,716,148  of  money  in  existence. 

Among  the  people,  however,  in  Chicago,  the  sentiment 
was  divided.  Throughout  the  city  groups  of  citizens 
might  be  found  discussing,  inquiring  and  demonstrating 
how  it  was  that  a  banker  could  collect  interest  three  or 
four  times  on  the  same  dollar. 

Probably  not  to  exceed  one-tenth  of  the  people  in  Chi- 
cago, prior  to  that  day,  knew  that  the  national  banks  were 
borrowing  money  from  the  government  at  one  per  cent 
.per  annum.  A  greater  proportion  of  the  country  people 
knew  of  it,  as  with  them  it  is  more  of  a  custom  to  study 
questions  of  state.  And,  as  in  the  case  of  the  eighteen 
per  cent  collected  by  the  banks,  on  the  one  hand,  which 
amazed  the  Chicago  citizens,  they  were  no  less  amazed  on 
the  other  hand  at  the  ONE  per  cent  paid  by  the  banks  for 
money  secured  from  the  government. 

The  same  audience  as  on  the  first  and  second  day  was 
in  the  seats  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  day's  lecture, 
and  more  than  a  thousand  people  were  in  front  of  the 
building  anxious  to  gain  admittance.  Had  it  not  been 
generally  known  that  those  attending  the  first  day  had 
been  given  seats  for  the  succeeding  days  it  is  probable  as 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


53 


many  as  ten  thousand  people  would  have  been  clamoring 
for  admission. 

COIN  promptly  appeared  on  the  platform  at  the  regu- 
lar hour  for  opening  the  School.  He  seemed  in  no  wise 
disturbed  by  the  newspaper  abuse  of  which  tie  was  the 
subject.    He  said : 

"We  have  seen  what  a  factor  in  civilization  money  is, 
that  it  is  so  necessary  that  there  can  be  no  civilization 


THEY  SNARLED  BECAUSE  ONE  OP  THEIR  KIND  WAS 
BEING  DISTURBED. 


without  it.  As  blood  carries  nourishment  to  and  builds-, 
up  the  physical  structure,  so  does  money  ever  passing 
through  the  hands  of  the  people  distribute  the  products  of 
the  earth,  building  our  homes  and  towns  and  cities — that 
it  is  well  named  'the  blood  of  civilization.'  And  that  when 
this  great  agency  is  disturbed  and  impeded  in  its  progress, 
or  circulation,  that  civilization  may  be  checked  and 
dwarfed ;  and  were  it  largely  or  wholly  diverted  from  its 


54  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

mission,  confusion  and  disorder  might  naturally  be  ex- 
pected. 

"We  have  further  seen  how  a  class  of  men  are  trading 
in  this  blood  of  civilization  for  profit.  And  how,  in  order 
to  make  more  profitable  their  business,  they  have  sought 
to  hold  down  a  natural  supply.  And,  again,  how  they 
have  succeeded  in  inducing  the  government  to  let  them 
have  the  special  privilege  of  borrowing  money  at  one  per 
cent  per  annum  while  imposing  upon  the  people  from  6 
to  10  per  cent  for  its  use.  We  are  now  to  go  further  with 
the  study  of  this  subject. 

"You,  all,  know  what  debts  are.  If  you  owe  some  one  a 
debt,  and  cannot  pay  it,  he  may  sue  you  and  get  judgment 
and  the  sheriflf  can  come  and  take  your  home,  if  you  have 
one,  or  other  property,  and  sell  it  and  deprive  you  of  it. 
Or  it  may  be  a  mortgage  or  trust  deed  that  you  have  given 
on  your  property  to  secure  the  debt,  and  if  you  cannot  pay 
the  debt,  the  sheriff  or  trustee  can  sell  the  property  and 
take  it  from  you.  And  if  the  property  does  not  bring  suf- 
ficient at  the  public  sale  to  pay  the  debt  your  creditor  can 
take  a  deficiency  judgment  and  follow  you  as  long  as  you 
live  and  have  the  sheriff  take  other  property  from  you 
should  you  get  it. 

"It  is  to  the  interest  of  all  that  when  a  debt  is  made 
that  it  should  be  paid.  If  A  cannot  pay  B,  B  is  less  able 
to  pay  C,  and  C,  counting  on  the  money  from  B  with 
which  to  pay  D,  and  not  getting  it,  is  also  injured.  If 
from  any  fault,  not  their  own,  many  citizens  are  unable  to 
pay  their  debts  and  are  thus  deprived  of  their  homes, 
much  unhappiness  may  result.  And  should  they  grow 
despondent,  it  may  result  in  their  becoming  undesirable 
citizens.  Insanity  may  thus  result.  And  should  it  so 
happen  that  in  communities  scattered  all  over  this  nation 
numerous  people,  zvitJiout  any  fault  of  their  own,  be  put  in 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  55 

this  condition,  it  would  be  a  great  injury  to  the  nation. 
As  sores  are  on  the  body  of  a  man,  so  might  we  say  that 
these  poverty-made  communities  are  sores  on  the  body 
politic.  For  it  would  bring  discouragement  to  such  people 
and  discouragement  breeds  crime.  To  some  it  would 
bring  despondency  and  that  might  mean  suicide  or  in- 
sanity. 

"I  am  now  about  to  show  you  how  a  people  may  be  re- 
duced to  tenantry  and  poverty  through  financial  laws, 
while  in  ignorance  of  the  effect  of  such  laws. 

"If  the  people  generally  happen  to  be  in  debt  and  the 
price  of  the  property  on  the  sale  of  which  they  are  depend- 
ing with  which  to  pay  the  debts,  remains  steady  or  ad- 
vances in  price,  they  may  be  easily  able  to  pay  the  debts, — • 
also  their  taxes,  and  feel  happy  and  encouraged.  But  if, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  price  of  their  products  on  the  sale 
of  which  they  depend  to  pay  what  they  owe  should  decline 
in  price,  they  may  be  unable  to  free  themselves  of  their 
debts ;  the  sheriff  may  come  and  take  their  property  and 
they  become  discouraged  and  rendered  homeless. 

"A  general  decline  in  the  price  of  property,  or  services, 
resulting  in  loss  of  homes  and  tenantry,  may  be  brought 
about  in  either  of  two  ways  through  financial  laws.  One 
is,  laws  that  encourage  the  hoarding  of  money,  diverting 
it  from  the  purpose  for  which  money  is  intended — a 
medium  of  exchange.  The  other  by  laws  demonetizing 
or  discrediting  any  portion  of  the  money,  without  a  suffi- 
cient substitute  therefor,  which  results  in  confusion  and 
contraction  of  the  supply." 

COIN  here  paused,  and  taking  from  his  portfolio  a 
card  containing  these  two  propositions,  placed  it  upon  an 
easel,  putting  a  tack  in  each  of  the  four  corners  of  the 
card. 

"We    price    all    property    in    money,"    he    continued. 


56 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


"When  you  sell  your  wheat  you  get  so  much  per  bushel ; 
if  you  try  to  sell  your  house  you  find  that  you  can  get  so 
much  money  for  it.  What  regulates  the  price  is  this :  It 
is  the  quantity  of  property  in  the  market  in  search  of 
money;  and  the  quantity  of  money  in  the  market  in  search 
of  property." 

The  little  schoolmaster  paused  again  and  said  that  he 


HOW  HOMES  MAY  BE   LOST. 

A  general  decline  in  the  price  of  property, 
or  services,  resulting  in  loss  of  homes  and 
tenantry,  may  be  brought  about  in  either  of 
two    ways   through   financial    laws: 

1.  By  laws  that  encourage  the  hoarding  of 
money,  diverting  it  from  the  purpose  for 
which  money  is  intended — a  medium  o£ 
exchange. 

2.  By  laws  demonetizing  or  discrediting 
any  portion  of  the  money,  without  a  suffi- 
cient substitute  therefor,  which  results  in 
confusion  and  contraction  of  the  supply. 


7// 


\VN 


wanted  them  to  remember  what  he  had  Just  said,  and  for 
that  purpose  he  would  distribute  a  souvenir  among  them ; 
and  handing  to  several  boys  who  attended  him  packages 
of  these  souvenirs,  they  were  distributed  in  the  audience. 
A  picture  of  it  Is  here  reproduced. 

"You  will  observe,"  he  said,  "that  in  the  first  instance 
numerous  people  are  taking  their  property  into  the  market 
seeking  money,  and  evidently  little  money  is  in  the  market 
to  buy  their  property.    In  this  instance  the  people  are 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


B1 


PRICE  15  HADE  BY  THE  RELATIVE. 
gUAMTITY  OF  PROPERTY  IMTHE  rlAR- 
KET  Ifi  &EARCH  OFMOiiEY,ANO,OF  nONE  Y 
IN  THE  riARKET  IN  5EARCH  OF  PROPERTY. 


58  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

competing  with  each  other  and  offering  their  property  at 
a  low  price  to  induce  the  man  who  has  the  money  to  buy 
from  the  one  in  preference  to  buying  from  the  others. 
The  money  the  man  has  for  investment  will  not  buy  all 
their  property.  Each  of  them  knowing  this  and  wishing 
to  be  the  one  who  sells,  oft'ers  more  and  more  property 
for  the  money.  When  this  is  the  case,  the  price  of  prop- 
erty is  low  and  money  buys  much  more  than  at  other 
times. 

"In  the  lower  half  of  the  picture  we  see  where,  for  in- 
stance, there  is  only  one  farm  in  a  county  for  sale  and 
there  are  numerous  people  who  have  money  wishing  to 
buy  a  farm.  In  this  instance  the  people  who  have  the 
money  and  wishing  a  farm  are  competing  with  each  other 
as  to  which  one  shall  get  the  farm;  and  this  makes  the 
farm  bring  a  higher  price  than  it  otherwise  would. 

"So,  that  we  see  that  it  is  the  relative  quantity  of  prop- 
erty in  the  market  wishing  to  exchange  for  money,  and 
the  quantity  of  money  in  the  market  wishing  to  exchange 
for  property  that  influences  prices.  And  any  law  that 
encourages  the  hoarding  of  money  for  use  other  than  that 
of  a  medium  of  exchange,  the  purpose  for  which  money  is 
intended,  lessens  the  quantity  of  money  in  the  market  in 
search  of  property  and  results  in  a  fall  of  prices  for  prop- 
erty. 

"The  business  of  bankers  is  to  loan  money,  and  not  to 
invest  it.  Money  to  loan  is  not  money  in  the  market  in 
search  of  property.  The  owners  of  property,  wishing  to 
sell,  may  go  to  a  banker  who  has  much  money  of  his  own 
stored  in  his  bank  vaults,  and  may  offer  their  property 
very  low,  but  the  banker  does  not  want  it.  His  money  is 
money  to  loan,  and  it  is  not  money  for  investment  until  a 
borrower  gets  it  from  him.  Any  law  that  encourages  the 
loaning  of  money,  except  as  a  saving  for  the  day  it  is 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


59 


needed,  for  one's  comfort,  is  a  law  that  encourages  money 
to  be  diverted  from  the  purpose  of  a  medium  of  exchange 
— the  purpose  for  which  money  is  intended.  It  will  cause 
a  fall  in  the  prices  of  property  and  suits  for  debts  and 
foreclosures  of  mortgages,  and  bankruptcy  in  business, 
and  loss  of  homes. 

"All  of  the  money  belonging  to  banks  and  to  men  who 
make  a  business  of  loaning  money  is  money  out  of  the  in- 


HE  DOES  NOT  WANT  THEIK  PEOPERTY. 

vestment  market — it  is  not  money  in  the  market  in  search 
of  property.  It  becomes  investment  money  only  when  in 
the  hands  of  a  borrower,  returning  a  tribute  to  the  money 
lender.  In  estimating  the  quantity  of  money  in  existence 
the  owners  of  which  are  likely  to  buy  your  property,  you 
should  deduct  all  of  the  money  belonging  to  money  lend- 
ers who  make  the  lending  of  money  their  business. 
"Their  business  is  based  on  laws  enacted  for  their  bene- 


60  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

fit,  and  hedged  in  and  protected  by  laws.  If  all  such  laws 
were  repealed,  except  such  as  would  enable  them  to  close 
up  their  business,  all  the  money  they  have  would  be  for 
investment, — would  be  in  the  market  in  search  of  prop- 
erty. It  would  be  that  much  of  the  blood  of  civilization 
again  in  the  arteries  and  veins  of  trade  and  commerce. 
It  would  be  at  work  laying  bricks  and  mortar,  distrib- 
uting production  and  building  homes,  and  there  would  be 
no  tax  of  6  or  i8  per  cent  on  its  use." 

Here  Mr.  John  L.  Garber  asked  this  question : 

"You  seem  to  draw  a  difference  between  money  lending 
for  savings  and  money  lending  as  a  business  ?  Do  I  un- 
derstand you  correctly?" 

"Yes.  The  difference  is  this,"  replied  COIN.  "The 
man  who  puts  his  money  in  a  savings  bank  is  usually  one 
who  intends  to  use  the  money  for  a  rainy  day,  or,  until  his 
accumulation  will  buy  him  a  home  or  other  personal  com- 
fort. And  when  the  quantity  desired  has  been  saved,  such 
person  brings  the  money  into  the  market  to  buy  the  de- 
sired home  or  other  useful  thing,  and  such  saving  is 
proper  and  to  be  commended.  But  when  the  saving  of 
money  is  for  the  purpose  of  regularly  prosecuting  the 
business  of  money  lending  it  leads  to  a  harmful  purpose — 
the  diverting  of  money  from  its  purpose  in  civilization; 
and  the  high  tribute  or  charges  received  by  the  money 
lenders  ultimately  brings  to  his  class  all  the  money  in 
existence — till  there  is  none  in  circulation,  except  bor- 
rowed money. 

"A  class  of  property,"  continued  the  little  teacher,  "may 
fall  and  rise  in  price  by  reason  of  a  large  supply  or  an 
under  supply,  while  the  volume  of  money  is  steady  and 
undisturbed.  For  example,  an  overproduction  of  wheat 
for  one  year  will  cause  more  wheat  to  be  on  the  market 
than  is  desired,  and  this  will  cause  the  price  to  fall.    And 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  t)i 

likewise  a  short  supply  of  wheat  will  cause  its  price  to 
rise.  But  the  cause  in  this  case  applies  to  the  changing 
quantity  of  wheat  and  not  to  the  changing  quantity  of 
money.  If  the  money  supply  was  normal  and  undisturbed 
by  laws  that  diverted  it  from  its  object,  what  we  would 
see  would  be  this : 

"One  kind  of  property,  say  wheat,  for  one  year,  may  be 
going  up  from  a  short  supply ;  another,  say  cotton,  may  be 
going  down  from  an  oversupply ;  another,  corn,  going  up 
slightly  from  a  small  shortage  in  the  supply,  and  so  on 
through  the  whole  list  of  products,  iron,  coal,  lead,  zinc 
and  other  things,  some  going  up  and  some  down,  and  some 
steady.  But  the  average  would  be  about  the  same.  If  the 
farmers  raised  too  much  wheat  one  year  and  it  was  down 
in  price,  experience  shows  that  they  do  not  raise  so  much 
the  next  year,  and  this  equalizes  the  price.  So,  if  we  have 
a  normal  supply  of  money,  unobstructed  in  its  use,  aver- 
age prices  through  a  long  period  of  years  would  remain 
the  same,  and  when  one  contracted  a  debt  he  could  count 
with  reasonable  certainty  on  about  the  price  he  was  going 
to  receive  for  his  property  and  with  which  he  would  be 
able  to  pay  the  debt. 

"But  not  so  when  the  quantity  of  money  in  use  for  the 
purpose  for  which  it  is  intended  is  varying.  Under  the 
banking  and  money  lending  system,  which  is  supposed  to 
have  brought  on  the  Dark  Ages,  and,  been  recently  re- 
vived, more  and  more  money  is  hoarded  for  that  purpose, 
and  less  and  less  money,  as  a  rule,  is  used  for  its  intended 
purpose.  When  such  is  the  case,  all  classes  of  property, 
excepting  something  for  which  there  may  be  an  unusual 
demand,  will  decline  in  price ;  and  taxes  and  debts  become, 
first,  a  burthen  to  property  owners,  and,  later,  takes  their 
homes  and  other  property  from  them.  And  in  this  way 
99  per  cent  of  the  people  in  a  nation  may  be  reduced  to 


62  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

tenantry,  with  the  other  one  per  cent  of  the  people,  wlio 
have  loaned  the  money,  owning  the  property.  You  will 
then  have  a  nation  full  of  tenants  and  dependants. 

"The  other  way  in  which  financial  laws  may  bring  about 
a  similar  condition  is  laws  demonetizing  or  discrediting 
any  portion  of  the  currency  v/ithout  a  substitute  therefor, 
causing  confusion  and  contraction  of  the  supply. 

"It  has  been  a  custom  to  have  different  forms  of  money. 
For  centuries  money  was  made  from  two  metals — silver 
and  gold — and  the  supply  of  money  depended  on  the  pro- 
duction of  these  two  metals.  It  was  only  recently  that  it 
was  discovered  that  money  could  be  made  by  a  govern- 
ment using  paper.  This  is  done  by  printing  a  promise  of 
the  government  on  the  paper  used,  agreeing  to  receive  it 
again  in  the  payment  for  taxes  or  anything  due  the  gov- 
ernment. This  makes  a  demand  for  it.  Two  billion  dol- 
lars can  be  thus  used  in  this  country  annually.  We  could 
maintain  that  much  paper  money  at  par  with  gold  at  the 
present  time.  Before  paper  money  was  brought  into  use 
the  two  precious  metals  were  exclusively  used  in  making 
money,  on  the  supposition  that  something  would  have  to 
be  used  that  has  an  exchangeable  value,  independent  of  its 
use  as  money.  That  is  true  now  as  between  citizens  of 
different  nations.  As  between  such,  by  common  consent, 
one  or  both  of  these  metals  are  used  as  money  and  ac- 
cepted by  weight.  But  as  between  citizens  of  the  same 
nation  paper  money  is  found  to  answer  the  same  purpose 
as  metallic  money.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  paper 
money  may  be  made  to  answer  in  paying  all  forms  of 
taxes  and  also  private  debts,  and  the  demand  for  its  use 
for  these  purposes  gives  general  satisfaction  to  the  people 
in  the  nation  where  it  is  thus  used.  It  therefore  makes  as 
good  a  medium  of  exchange  as  metallic  money.  And  the 
quantity  may  be  much  more  easily  kept  at  a  normal  sup- 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  63 

ply  than  to  depend  on  the  micertam  production  o£  pre- 

''""xhTfaet'that  the  government  is  wilHng  to  receive  the 
paper  money  for  all  taxes,  including  the  states  and  cit.es, 
makes  a  demand  for  about  two  billions  annually  to  say 
nothing  of  the  government  standing  ready  to  redeem  .t 
Jr  money  in  postage  stamps.   Th.s  gives  it  a  value  and 
Lakes  it  answer  the  same  purpose  as  "- other  two  form 
of  money.    Up  to  this  amount,  two  billion  of  dollars  ot 
pap"  money,  there  should  be  rro  dispute  or  disagreement 
Xould  n^t  be,  were  it  not  for  the  money  dealers  con- 

'"^^IlSolms  of  money  are  now  used  in  the  United 
States,  gold,  silver  and  paper  money-the  latter  two  as 
rep  esentatiCe  money,  and  in  quantity  about  400  and  600 
i  Hon  dollars,  respectively.     Prior  ,0  ^873  the  mm  s 
were  open  to  coin  into  money  all  the  silver  and  gold  that 
Tame  to  it,  and  the  supply  of  the  two  meta  s  no  makmg 
sufficient  money,  paper  money  was  also  used.    But  in  tha 
;ear  a  law  was  passed  to  close  the  mints  to  silver    xcep 
in  limited  quantities  for  use  as  token  money.    The  law  0 
tha  Tear  fixed  the  only  legal  unit  or  dollar  to  be  made  of 
irl.o  grains  of  gold   and  by  a  construction  since  placed 
on  that  law  all  forms  of  money  other  than  gold  is  to  be  re- 
dLmfd  in  gold  when  demanded.    It  is  construed  to  be  the 
law  at  the  present  time.    The  law  spoken  of  thus  demone 
tLd  silver,  and  much  confusion  has  ever  since  resulted 

*''°This  law,  as  construed,  classified  money  into  two 
kinds-gold  is  redemption  money,  and  all  other  forms  0 
t^^ny,  which  includes  paper  money,  -'^er   nickel  and 
Tppe'  all  coined  in  limited  quantities,  m  a  cto      'tsd 
called   representative   or   credit   money_    However   t^^ 
only  difference  in  the  law  since  1873  and  pnor  thereto 


64  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

that  before  1873  gold  and  silver  both  were  redemption 
money;  except  for  several  years,  as  the  result  of  a  war 
paper  money  only  was  used,  and  which  redeemed  itself. 
There  has  never  been  enough  gold  and  silver  produced  in 
the  world  to  make  a  normal  "supply  of  money. 

"The  stock  of  gold  available  for  money  in  the  United 
States  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  year,  as  estimated 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  is  $945,798,788.  This 
quantity  makes  little  less  than  a  billion  dollars,  whereas 
something  like  six  billion  dollars  is  necessary  for  a  normal 
supply  of  money.  Under  the  gold  redemption  system  only 
about  one  billion  of  other  forms  of  money  can  be  kept  in 
circulation  on  the  present  amount  of  gold.  This  means  a 
total  of  about  two  billion  dollars  at  the  present  time  of 
money  of  all  kinds  that  can  be  maintained  in  circulation 
under  the  gold  standard — under  the  present  system ; 
whereas  as  much  as  six  billion  dollars  is  necessary,  and 
the  two  billion  must  be  kept  constantly  loaned  three  times 
over  to  meet  the  demands  of  business  for  the  use  of 
money. 

"So  long  as  we  insist  on  two  kinds  of  money,  redemp- 
tion money  and  representative  money,  the  latter  repre- 
senting the  first,  the  quantity  of  the  former  will  control 
the  amount  that  can  be  issued  of  the  latter.  This  is  a 
great  hindrance  to  getting  a  normal  quantity  of  money ; 
and  must  make  general  confusion  at  times,  as  it  has  sev- 
eral times,  by  causing  a  run  on  the  government  for  the  re- 
demption money,  gold, — resulting  in  a  contraction  of  the 
supply  of  representative  money  and  a  panic. 

"With  gold  and  silver  both  as  redemption  money,  twice 
as  much  representative  money  could  be  made  as  with  gold 
only  as  a  basis.  Provided  we  had  to  discredit  any  of  our 
money  by  calling  it  representative  money. 

"It  so  happened  that  only  a  few  knew  when  the  law 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


65 


passed,  demonetizing  silver ;  and  when  it  became  known 
a  great  cry  went  up  from  the  people,  that  has  lasted  ever 

since." 

The  little  statesman  was  giving  recent  history  of  money 
legislation,  and  all,  especially  the  boys,  were  interested  in 
hearing  him.  A  little  fellow  by  the  name  of  Walter 
Darby,  about  twelve  years  of  age,  here  asked  COIN  what 


CHLOROFORMING  EDITORS. 


the  free  coinage  of  the  two  metals  meant.     The  reply 
was: 

"It  is  the  mints  open  to  mould  into  coins  all  of  either  of 
the  two  metals  that  comes,  and  handing  the  coins  back  to 
■the  person  bringing  the  metal,  with  371^  grains  of  pure 
silver  in  a  silver  dollar,  and  23  2-10  grains  of  pure  gold  in 
a  gold  dollar,  or  about  16  times  as  much  silver  in  a  silver 
dollar  as  of  gold  in  a  gold  dollar.    This  is  what  16  to  I 


66  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

means.  The  government  coins  the  money  because  of  the 
necessity  of  money  to  society,  and  to  insure  its  quahty." 

Little  Samuel  Darby,  the  brother  of  Walter  Darby,  then 
asked  the  boy  lecturer  to  tell  about  how  the  money  dealers 
demonetized  silver,  and  COIN  continued : 

"In  1873,  the  bankers,  as  now,  were  supposed  to  be  the 
only  men  who  knew  what  financial  laws  we  should  have. 
The  Congressmen  felt  that  way  about  it,  and  knowing 
little  or  nothing  about  financial  laws  themselves,  were  in- 
clined to  let  the  bankers  say  what  was  best.  The  early 
principles  of  the  Republic  had  been  forgotten,  partly  be- 
cause of  a  great  war  that  had  arisen  between  the  states 
and  engrossed  the  minds  of  the  people. 

"The  bankers,  some  of  the  leading  ones,  of  London, 
England  and  New  York  City,  had  determined  to  get  silver 
demonetized  if  they  could  by  taking  not  to  exceed  two  or 
three  Congressmen  into  their  confidence.  They  called  it  a 
Mint  bill,  and  so  worded  it  that  a  slight  change  of  a  few 
words  at  the  last  minute  made  it  demonetize  silver  with- 
out the  knowledge,  at  the  time,  of  any  but  the  conspira- 
tors, as  they  have  since  been  called."  (See  publishers' 
note  below.) 


A  full  history  of  the  demonetization  of  silver  and  a  popular 
treatise  on  gold  and  silver  as  money  may  be  found  in  "Coin's 
Financial  School,"  and  "A  Tale  of  Two  Nations,"  by  the  same 
author.  Both  books  are  fascinating  reading  and  hold  the  atten- 
tion of  the  reader  with  wonderful  interest.  "A  Tale  of  Two 
Nations"  is  so  intensely  interesting  that  ladies  have  been  known 
to  commence  reading  it  after  supper  and  to  continue  reading  it 
all  night,  finishing  it  about  breakfast  time. 

After  the  appearance  of  these  two  books,  Mr.  Harvey,  the 
author,  was  challenged  by  a  committee  of  bankers  and  business 
men  of  the  opposite  opinion  to  meet  Hon.  Roswell  G.  Horr, 
a  former  member  of  Congress,  a  debater  of  national  reputation, 
and  at  the  time  financial  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  in 
debate,  as  to  the  truths  and  facts  stated  in  Coin's  Financial 
School.  The  debate  came  ofif  in  the  summer  of  1895,  in  the 
audience  room  of  the  Illinois  Club  in  Chicago,  and  lasted  nine 
days,  of  three  hours'  session  each  day.     The  debate  was  taken 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  67 

"They  were  afraid  of  allowing  their  plans  to  become 
known,  as  silver  coins  had  been  the  favorite  money  of  the 
people.  The  people's  savings  had  been  mainly  in  silver 
coins,  and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  find  stockings  full 
of  it,  or  in  some  other  receptacle,  stored  away  and  hidden 
in  the  homes  of  the  plain  people.  The  people,  as  a  rule, 
did  not  like  gold  coins  for  use  as  money,  and  gold  coins 
became  known  as  the  money  of  the  rich.  There  were 
several  reasons  for  this.  The  smallest  size  gold  piece  we 
have  is  a  five  dollar  coin,  while  most  of  the  purchases  of 
the  people  are  for  smaller  sums  than  that  amount,  making 
the  silver  coins  more  convenient.  A  five  dollar  gold  piece 
is  about  the  size  of  a  nickel  s-cent  piece,  and  many  people 
have,  by  mistake,  spent  a  five  dollar  gold  coin  for  a  nickel ; 
and  this  also  served  to  prejudice  them  against  gold  money. 
They  found,  also,  that  gold  coins  were  softer  than  silver, 
and,  by  wear,  lost  in  weight ;  and  often  when  spending  it 
it  was  weighed  on  them  and  a  deduction  made  for  the 
loss,  something  that  rarely  happens  with  silver  coins. 

"So  when  the  people  discovered  that  their  favorite 
money  had  been  demonetized, — the  mints  closed  to  it  ex- 
cept in  limited  quantities,  and  its  power  as  real  or  redemp- 
tion money  taken  away — they  were  very  indignant,  and 

down  by  shorthand  reporters  and  an  official  report  of  the  same 
is  published  in  book  form.  These  books  may  all  be  had  through 
book  stores  or  by  ordering  them  of  us. 

In  this  debate,  Mr.  Harvey  drove  Mr.  Horr  from  every  posi- 
tion he  assumed;  and,  on  the  third  day,  on  the  subject  of 
Vv'hether  silver  had  been  secretly  and  surreptitiously  demone- 
tized, Mr.  Horr  was  forced  to  silence  and  to  abandon  the  sub- 
ject, to  the  great  chagrin  and  regret  of  the  friends  of  his  cause. 
That  the  gold  standard  is  indefensible  was  clearly  shown  by  the 
admitted  rout  of  its  chosen  advocate  and  ablest  debater  in  the 
United  States.  The  gold  standard  is,  nevertheless,  still  defended 
and  being  further  hedged  and  protected  by  national  legislation, 
though  indefensible  in  open  discussion,  which  indicates  the  secret 
and  immoral  power  of  the  privileged  classes  to  establish  and 
maintain  unjust  class  legislation. 

THE    PUBLISHERS. 


68  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

politics  have  been  convulsed,  more  or  less,  ever  since,  over 
its  restoration  on  equal  rights  with  gold.  The  people, 
however,  have  not  succeeded  in  its  restoration,  and  the 
influence  of  the  money  lenders  who  brought  about  the 
change  is  as  strong  with  the  President  and  Congress  as  it 
ever  was.  We  will  see  later  how  the  money  dealers  exert 
what  seems  to  the  people  a  mysterious  influence  with 
Congress  and  the  President. 

"With  gold  and  silver  both  used  as  redemption  money," 
he  continued,  "and  the  mints  open  to  coin  all  the  silver 
that  comes,  as  they  are  now  open  to  coin  all  the  gold  that 
comes,  we  could  have  about  two  billion  dollars  of  coin 
money ;  and  this  quantity  would  support  in  circulation  an 
equal  quantity  of  representative  money  made  from  paper 
— making  four  billion  dollars  in  all.  We  would  still, 
however,  be  short  of  a  normal  supply  of  money,  to  say 
nothing  of  how  much  of  this  money  would  be  hoarded  by 
the  money  lenders  and  diverted  from  its  true  purpose. 

"Prior  to  1861,  periodical  panics  came  about  from  two 
reasons.  One  reason  is  that  already  given — the  hoarding 
of  money  by  money  lenders  solely  for  that  purpose,  which 
at  times  reduced  the  amount  in  the  market  for  investment 
more  than  at  other  times,  and  brought  falling  prices  and 
what  is  known  as  panics.  The  other  reason  was  that  prior 
to  1 86 1,  among  the  different  kinds  of  representative 
money,  was  state  bank  issues  of  paper  money,  redeemable 
in  gold  or  silver.  It  was  not  under  the  general  regulation 
of  the  national  government,  as  now,  and  state  laws  were 
very  loose  as  to  how  much  paper  money  their  banks  could 
issue ;  and  it  resulted  in  large  overissues  of  paper  money, 
redeemable  in  metallic  money,  till  the  people  would,  at 
times,  lose  confidence  in  the  state  banks  to  redeem  it  in 
gold  or  silver ;  and  at  such  times  there  would  begin  a  run 
on  these  state  banks  to  have  the  paper  money  cashed  with 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


69 


'hard'  money,  ending  in  frightening  people  as  to  all  banks 
that  had  issued  paper  money,  to  a  run  on  them  all,— and  a 
general  panic— just  as  our  representative  money  may  now 
be  used  for  a  run  on  the  national  Treasury. 

HOW    PAPER    MONEY   WAS    USED. 

"In  1861  the  war  between  the  North  and  the  South  be- 
gan and  there  not  being  enough  gold  and  silver,  with  the 
issue  of  an  equal  quantity  of  paper  money,  to  carry  on  the 
war,  gold  and  silver  and  the  redemption  money  idea  were 
abandoned,  and  paper  money  only  was  issued  by  the  na- 
tional  government,   in  no  wise  redeemable  m  metallic 
money,  but  accepted  by  the  government  in  payment  of 
taxes  and  made  good  in  payment  of  private  debts.    It  was 
found  that  that  kind  of  redemption  was  all  that  the  people 
wanted.    In  this  way  more  money  was  issued  than  could 
have  been  issued  on  the  other  plan.    Enough  was  thus 
obtained  to  carry  on  the  war  and  general  prosperity  also 
came  to  the  people.    The  money  was  all  of  one  kind  and 
no  confusion  resulted  in  the  way  of  runs  on  the  govern- 
ment or  banks  to  redeem  one  kind  with  the  other.    This 
exclusively   paper  money,   for   several   years   circulated 
solely  in  the  Northern  and  Western  states,  as  the  other 
states  had  claimed  to  have  gone  out  of  the  Union,  and 
was  at  war  with  the  national  government.    It  gave,  while 
this  was  the  case,  about  $50  per  capita  for  the  states,  the 
people  of  which  were  using  the  new  money. 

-While  this  new  money,  paper  money,  was  exclusively 
in  circulation  in  the  United,  States,  it  gave  more  gold  and 
silver  for  use  in  exchange  between  nations;  and  during 
that  period  we  did  a  larger  business,  in  proportion  to 
population,  than  we  ever  did  before  or  have  done  since  we 
went  back,  as  we  did,  later,  to  the  old  system.  _  The  money 
changers  did  not  molest  the  new  system  of  usmg  all  paper 


70  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

money  while  the  war  lasted,  except  to  get  a  law  passed 
that  they,  the  money  lenders,  on  their  loans  of  paper 
money  to  the  government,  were  to  be  paid  their  interest  in 
coin  money,  and  their  loans  when  due  also  in  coin.  But 
as  soon  as  the  war  was  over  the  bankers  began  organizing 
to  get  back  the  old  system  v^^here  they  could  the  more 
readily  control  the  currency ;  and  they  not  only  succeeded, 
but  went  further  and  got  silver  demonetized. 

"During  the  four  years  that  the  paper  money  was  un- 
disturbed, 1861  to  1865,  general  prosperity  came  to  the 
people,  and  home  owners  multiplied  rapidly.  The  money 
was  being  paid  out  to  the  soldiers  and  sent  home  and  to 
those  supplying  the  army.  It  was  all  money  in  the  market 
in  search  of  the  comforts  of  life.  A  very  small  propor- 
tion of  it  had  as  yet  gotten  into  the  hands  of  the  money 
lenders  ;  it  was  in  circulation  and  answering  the  needs  for 
which  money  was  intended.  You  will  find  some  one  now 
living  in  each  community  who  will  tell  you  of  the  prosper- 
ous times  that  then  existed.  Failures  in  business  became 
almost  unknown,  and  vvath  some  improvement  that  might 
have  been  added,  failures  might  have  almost  totally  dis- 
appeared. I  am  now  going  to  distribute  among  you  a 
printed  table  showing  the  business  failures  for  42  years, 
that  you  may  study  it  in  connection  with  this  subject. 
You  will  observe  how  few  the  failures  were  when  some- 
thing like  a  normal  supply  of  money  went  into  circulation 
so  rapidly  that  the  money  lending  system  had  not  time  to 
absorb  it. 

"This  table  of  failures  is  taken  from  reports  of  Dun's 
Mercantile  Agency,  as  it  appears  in  January  numbers  of 
Dun's  Review ;  as  also  appears  in  Statistical  Abstract  for 
1896,  page  348,  and  continued  in  the  Statistical  Abstract 
for  1898,  page  371." 

COIN  was  here  interrupted  by  Richard  Lynthacum,  the 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


71 


managing  editor  of  the  Evening  Chicago  Journal,  who 
said :    "I  can  see  the  force  of  what  you  say  as  to  certain 

causes  diverting  money  from 

FAILURES  circulation,  and  falling  mar- 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  FOR        kets  when  money  is  hoarded, 

FORTY-TWO  YEARS.  ^.      ,.  .  ,        , 

at  times   of   runs   on   banks 

Fail-      Amount  of  i    i       •  •  •.  ,         ,  , 

Year.  urea.      Liabilities.       and  Cluring  OaniCS  :  DUt  sllOUld 

l.sr.T 4,932        $291,750,000       ^,  i  r  .         ,         . 

1.S5S 4,225        95,749,000     the  Dcople  oi  neccssitv  be  in 

1S59 3,913  64,394,000         ,    i^-,        r        •  ,      . 

I860 3,675        79,807,000     debt  .'^      is    it   HOt   their   own 

1S61 6,993*        207,210,000        r       i^    ,,      ,     ,,  .  ,    ,      ^ 

1862 1,652*       23,049,000     lault  that  they  are  in  debt? 

1863 495*  7,899,900        tx  •  ,   • 

1864 520*        8,579,000     it  rcquires  two  thmofs  to  de- 

3865 530*  17,625,000  .  ^.  .    ,         . 

1866 1,505        53,783,000     privc   tlicm   OI   busiucss   and 

1867 2,780  96,666,000       ,  .       .    ,,. 

1868 2,608        63,694,000     liomcs — One  IS  falling  prices, 

1869 2,799  75,054,054  ,     ^,  ^,  ,  . 

1870 3,546        88,242,000     and  the  other  the  owing-  of 

1871 2,915  85,252,000         i    i,  ^  ,  •  ?       . 

1872 4,069      121,056,000     dcbts  at  such  a  time.     Is  it 

1873 5,183  228,499,900  ^     ^i      •         r       i        -r     •  ,    ,      -^ 

1874 5,830       155,239,000     not    their    fault    if    in    debt? 

1875 7,740  201,060,333         «      j  u    .i  •,    , 

1876 9,092      191,117,786     And  could  they  not  avoid  be- 

1877 8,872  190,669,936        .  •        i    i  ^ -,„ 

1878 10,478  234,383,132       Ulg  lU   debt  .'^ 

1879 6,658  98,149,053  <trp,  .         ,  .     „ 

1880 4,735        65,752,000  i  tie  auswcr  IS  tliis,     rc- 

1881 5,582  81,155,932  ,.     ,     ^^^at       a^ 

1882 6,738      101,547,564     phcd  LUiN.      faxcs  are  an 

1883 9,184  172,874.172  .    ,.  ,    ,  . 

1884 10,968         226,343,427       CVCr     CXlStlUg     debt.        As     WC 

1885 10,637  124,220,321       ,  .  , 

1S8S 9.834       114,644,119     liavc  secu,  in  ordcr  to  have  a 

1887 9,634  167,560,944  ,  ,  ^ 

1888 10,679      123,829,973     normal  supply  of  money,  our 

1889 10,882  148,784,337       ,         •  •   , 

1890 10,907      189,856,964     Dusincss  mcii  Cither  have  to 

1891 12.273  189,868,638       ,  r  .111 

1S92 10,344      114,044,167     Dorrow  irom  the  banks  a  sum 

1803 15,242  346,779,889  ^.  ,  ,  . 

1894 13.885      172,992,856     amountiiig     to     nearly     six 

1895 13,197  173,196,060       ,  mi-  1    11 

1890 15,088       226,096,834     Dillion  dollars,  constantlv,  or 

1897 13,351*        154,332,071  i.      1        ^i  1     1      '• 

1898 12,186*     130,662,899     Hot   do  the   normal  business 

*War      period,      when      more       r  1  •   1     ,1  •  1  1 

money  was  put  in  circulation.     lor  wliicn  there  IS  a  demand. 

This  much  of  a  debt  exists 
in    addition    to    taxes    that    could    not    reasonably    be 
avoided.      But    additional    debts    to    these    are    forced, 
involuntarily,  in  many  ways  on  the  people  during  a  long 
period  of  continuously  falling  prices. 


72  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

"A  merchant  finds  business  unprofitable  when  he  must 
mark  down  his  selling  prices  to  meet  those  of  his  com- 
petitors who  purchased  yesterday.  Such  a  condition  re- 
sults in  breaking  up  factories  and  throwing  numerous 
people  out  of  employment,  who  must  borrow  on  their 
homes,  or  as  best  they  can,  till  they  can  again  find  profit- 
able employment.  ]\Ioney  is  a  necessity  and  to  the  one 
who  has  it  not,  and  has  property  on  which  to  borrow  it, 
he  goes  involuntarily  and  secures  the  loan,  even  as  the 
mother  will  pawn  her  shawl  and  wedding  ring  to  secure 
money  with  which  to  buy  bread.  During  a  period  of 
falling  prices  people  are  forced  into  debt,  by  not  getting 
as  much  money  in  return  for  their  products  as  they  would 
otherwise  have  received.  The  making  of  debts,  at  such  a 
time,  extends  beyond  business  men  to  all  classes  of  peo- 
ple." 

"I  guess  you  are  right,"  said  Mr.  Lynthacum,  from  his 
seat,  and  the  little  teacher  proceeded : 

"We  have  seen  thus  far,  how  laws  affecting  the  quantity 
of  money  in  circulation  may  bring  distress  and  tenantry 
to  an  industrious  and  what  would  otherwise  be  prosperous 
people.  The  effect  is,  also,  to  force  people  out  of  an  inde- 
pendent business  into  the  ranks  of  the  wage  earners,  in- 
creasing the  supply  of  labor,  necessitating  labor  unions 
and  resulting  in  strikes  and  riots.  When  people  are 
broken  up  in  business  they  then  seek  employment  from 
others,  resulting  in  the  labor  market  being  overcrowded. 
The  same  is  true  as  to  clerkships  and  all  classes  of  em- 
ployment. 

"What  we  learn  from  it  is  this :  First,  there  should  be 
a  normal  supply  of  money.  Second,  there  should  be  no 
laws  fostering  any  business  that  hoards  and  diverts  money 
from  its  true  purpose.  Third,  there  should  be  no  such 
thing  as  redemption  money  and  representative  money  as 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  73 

distinguished  from  each  other.  Each  dollar  should  be  as 
good  as  every  other  dollar,  and  all  stand  equally  in  favor 
with  the  national  government.  It  should  be  unlawful,  as 
against  public  policy,  to  make  a  debt  payable  in  any  one  of 
the  forms  of  money,  so  no  special  demand  would  apply 
to  either,  but  to  all  alike.  Use  gold  and  silver  as  money, 
but  let  them  be  simply  as  money  and  not  as  redemption 
money;  and  paper  money  accepted  by  the  government, 
national,  state  and  local,  for  all  taxes  and  other  dues  the 
same  as  gold  and  silver  is  accepted. 

"Under  the  first,  a  normal  supply  of  money,  civiliza- 
tion would  spring  forward  with  amazing  strides.  Under 
the  second,  no  laws  to  divert  money  from  its  civilizing 
function,  a  continued  existence  of  general  prosperity 
would  exist.  With  the  third  change  suggested  there 
would  be  no  necessity  for  a  reserve  fund  of  $100,000,000 
in  gold  in  the  national  Treasury,  which  is  now  money 
hoarded  for  an  unnecessary  purpose  that  should  be  in  the 
channels  of  trade,  answering  a  useful  purpose.  Nor 
would  there  be  any  panics,  as  by  the  present  system,  by 
sudden  contraction  of  the  supply  incident  to  representa- 
tive money  going  into  the  banks,  or  national  Treasury,  de- 
manding in  return  gold. 

"As  before  stated,  by  not  studying  money  from  the 
standpoint  of  civilization,  but  by  allowing  men  who  deal 
in  it  for  profit,  to  study  it  for  us,  we  have  the  present  sys- 
tem. What  is  its  effect  ?  that  of  the  present  system  on  the 
development  of  the  human  race?  And  what  are  we  to 
expect  from  its  continuation  in  the  future  ? 

"Under  the  financial  system  in  use  from  1861  to  1865 
the  people  of  the  United  States  were  practically  out  of 
debt.  The  national  debt,  arising  out  of  the  war,  was  about 
$2,700,000,000,  but  private  debts  were  very  small  in  the 
aggregate,  and  the  total  of  national,  state,  municipal,  cor- 


'J'4  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

porate  and  private  debts  were  about  FIVE  billion  dol- 
lars. With  the  people  unhampered,  the  national  debt 
would  have  soon  been  paid  and  private  debts  would  have 
continued  to  decrease.  The  population  of  the  United 
States  was  then  about  35  million.  We  have  now  about 
70  million  of  people,  and  in  the  same  proportion,  under 
the  same  conditions,  our  debts  would  be  not  to  exceed 
10  billion  dollars. 

"As  a  result  of  the  class  legislation  obtained  by  the 
money  dealers,  since  the  close  of  the  war  in  1865,  and 
mainly  since  January,  1873,  we  have  had  periodical  panics 
and  a  long  period  of  constantly  falling  average  of  prices 
to  the  first  of  the  present  year,  till  average  prices  of  all 
products  have  fallen  50  per  cent — some  more,  some  less, 
but  on  the  whole,  50  per  cent. 

"This  fall  of  prices  forced  the  people  to  go  to  the  money 
lenders  and  contract  debts,  till  now  the  total  of  our  na- 
tional, state,  municipal,  corporate  and  private  debts  in  the 
United  States  is  fully  FORTY  billion  dollars."  COIN 
here  distributed  in  the  audience  a  printed  statement  of  the 
national,  state,  municipal,  corporate  and  private  indebted- 
ness of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

"The  debts  due  to  the  banks  of  $5,751,467,610  are  short 
time  debts  due  from  business  men,  and  while  representing 
in  the  main  the  necessary  supply  of  money  for  carrying  on 
the  business  of  the  nation,  it  is  only  about  one-eighth  of 
the  total  debts  of  the  nation  and  its  people  at  the  present 
time.  The  life  insurance  com.panies  are  among  our  larg- 
est money  lenders.  Individual  stockholders  and  directors 
in  banks  make  loans  of  their  personal  money  on  long 
time,  secured,  usually,  by  mortgages  on  real  estate;  and 
thousands  of  other  individuals  are  in  the  money  lending 
business.  Additional  to  these,  agents  of  foreign  money 
lenders,  mainly  those  of  England,  have  been  quartered 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


75 


76  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

among  us,  and  signs  of  'money  to  lend'  may  be  seen  every- 
where. 

"Fifty  years  ago  money  lending  as  a  business  was 
scarcely  known.  It  had  not  long  been  revived  and  was 
then  in  its  infancy.  But  now  it  is  everywhere.  Corpora- 
tion bonds  amount  up  into  billions  of  dollars.  The  farm 
mortgages  amount  to  an  enormous  sum.  In  almost  every 
conceivable  way,  now,  property  is  pledged  in  some  way  for 
borrowed  money;  and  the  annual  interest  of  the  people 
amounts  to  about  two  billion  of  dollars ;  more  than  the 
value  of  six  of  the  annual  leading  crops  of  the  United 
States.  Railways  are  seeking  privileged  legislation,  by 
which  fares  are  maintained  to  enable  them  to  make  divi- 
dends on  their  stock  after  paying  interest  on  their  bonds, 
thus  throwing  the  burden  on  the  people.  Other  corpora- 
tions by  combinations  and  trusts  are  obtaining  the  same 
end ;  and  express,  railway  and  telegraph  companies  are 
forcibly  throwing  on  the  people  the  stamp  tax,  intended 
for  them  to  pay.  Thus  no  matter  who  issues  the  bonds,  so 
long  as  the  people  are  able  to  pay  them,  the  principal  and 
interest  will  be  exacted  of  them.  Annual  interest  in  the 
United  States  is  now  two  billion  of  dollars. 

"The  total  indebtedness  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  is  now  as  much  as  FORTY  billion  of  dollars.  You 
will  understand  better  what  FORTY  billion  of  dollars  of 
debts  mean  to  this  nation,  when  I  tell  you  that  by  the 
census  of  1890  the  total  assessed  value  of  all  the  real  and 
personal  property  in  the  United  States  was  Twenty  Four 
billion,  six  hundred  million  dollars,  with  the  average  state 
assessments  since  that  period  less  than  it  was  in  1890.  The 
fair  cash  value  of  all  the  real  and  personal  property  in  the 
United  States  is  now  estimated  at  SEVENTY  billions  of 
dollars.  So  that  we  are  now  indebted  FIFTEEN  billion 
dollars  more  than  the  total  assessment;  and  more  than 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  t1 

DEBTS. 

PUBLIC    AND    PRIVATE    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 
November,  1899. 

National  debt,  interest  bearing — see  National 
Treasurer's  Report,  page  C,  for  1899 $1,046,048,750 

Annual  current  expense  debt,  less  postal  appro- 
priation, being  collected  by  taxes — see  page 
12,  Treasurer's  Report 575,000,000 

State,  county    municipal,  school  and  other  taxes,       1,500,000,000 

Debts  due  to  banks — see  Report  of  the  Comp- 
troller of  the  Currency  of  Dec.  4,  1899,  page  23,       5,751,467,610 

U.S. railway  debts,  1897 — see  Poore's  Manual  (no 
data  since  then  but  supposed  to  have  since 
increased)   11,631,711,740 

Real  estate  mortgages,  1890,  U.  S.  Census  Rep't  . .       6,000,000,000 

Bonded  debt  of  states,  territories,  counties  and 
municipalities  of  over  4,000  population — see 
Census  Report,  1890  1,135,794,064 

Towns  under  4,000  population  (estimated) 50,000,000 

Bonded  indebtedness  of  street  railways,  manu- 
factories, industrial  trusts,  and  other  business 
enterprises,  not  including  railways  (estimated 
from  U.  S.  Census  Report  and  Bond  Market 
Reports  up  to  date)  10,000,000,000 

Overdue  debts  to  wholesale  and  retail  merchants 

(estimated)   1,000,000,000 

Chattel  mortgages  and  debts  due  to  pawnbrokers 
(estimated)   1,000,000,000 

Private  debts  due  from  individuals  to  individuals 
that  do  not  come  under  any  class,  and  of  which 
there  is  no  record  (estimated) 500,000,000 

Marine  debts  (estimated)    1,000,000,000 

Overdrafts,  judgments  and  delinquent  taxes,  for 
which  property  is  being  sold,  or  has  been 
sold  and  time  of  redemption  has  not  expired..       3,000,000,000 

Total $44, 190,022;,  164 

It  is  claimed  in  the  past  two  years  that  farm  and  real  estate 
mortgages  are  being  reduced  in  consequence  of  increased  cir- 
culation from  war  money  and  sale  of  products  to  famine  stricken 
countries,  but  examination  shows  otherwise.  In  Nebraska, 
where  chattel  as  well  as  real  estate  mortgages  are  required  to  be 
recorded,  to  be  of  any  validity,  reports  from  all  the  recorders' 
offices  in  the  state,  giving  new  mortgages  and  cancellation  of 
old  mortgages,  shows  for  the  past  two  years  and  also  for  the 
past  year,  an  increase  rather  than  a  decrease  of  indebtedness. 
Nebraska  has  a  rich  soil,  ranging  from  3  to  20  feet  deep,  and  is 
above  the  average  of  prosperous  states.  If  debts  are  not  being 
reduced  in  Nebraska  they  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  been  re- 
duced in  other  states. 


78  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

half  as  much  as  the  fair  cash  value  of  all  the  real  and  per- 
sonal property  in  the  United  States. 

"What  it  means  is  that  at  low  prices  of  property — 
wheat  at  60  cents  and  cotton  at  6  cents — the  debts  are 
taking  from  the  people  their  property.  It  is  due  to  finan- 
cial laws  that  are  as  effectually  reducing  the  people  of  the 
United  States  to  tenantry  as  the  law  of  entail  reduced  to 
tenantry  the  people  of  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland.  It 
is  increasing  the  number  of  wage  earners  and  dependants. 
It  is  bringing  the  people  to  want,  misery,  crime,  suicide 
and  insanity. 

"Here  in  this  city,  mortgage  companies  and  life  insur- 
ance companies  own  thousands  of  residences  taken  in  un- 
der loans  made  at  40  and  50  per  cent  of  what  was  once  re- 
garded as  their  fair  cash  value.  Where,  thirty  years  ago, 
as  you  walked  along  the  residence  streets  of  this  city, 
nearly  every  one  owned  his  home,  but  now,  as  you  walk 
along  the  same  streets,  you  will  not  find  more  than  five 
families  in  fifty  living  in  their  own  homes ;  and  many  of 
those  who  still  own  their  own  homes,  at  present  prices,  are 
hopelessly  mortgaged. 

"Over  TEN  BILLION  dollars  of  our  indebtedness  of 
FORTY  BILLION  is  due  to  English  money  lenders,  who 
introduced  among  us  the  gold  standard.  Under  the  low 
prices  of  property  that  has  resulted,  these  same  English- 
men have  been,  through  mortgage  sales  and  cash  pur- 
chases, and  are  now,  rapidly  coming  into  the  possession 
of  the  property  of  our  once  prosperous  citizens.  English- 
men now  own  a  majority  of  the  stock  of  our  railroads. 
They  own  fifty  million  acres  of  land  along  the  Northern 
Pacific  railroad,  taken  in  under  a  mortgage. 

"They  own  large  tracts  of  land  in  nearly  every  state  in 
the  Union.  Lord  Scully  of  England  owns  40,000  acres  of 
land  in  Logan  county  in  this  state  and  40,000  acres  in 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  'i'9 

NATIONAL  DEBTS.  Sangamon  county  adjoining. 

DOES  NOT  INCLUDE  PRIVATE  He    owns    50,000    acres    in 

OR  OTHER  DEBTS.  Southern      Nebraska      and 

U.  S.  Census  Report,  1890.  -m     ^i  t^  t-      i-  i 

1848  $7,627,692,215  Northern   Kansas.     English- 

1860  10,399,341,688  men  own  a  beautiful  island  in 

1880  ; ; ; ; ; ; :  *.  27;42l',037;643  ^-^^^  superior,  in  the  state  of 

1890  27!524,'976!915  Michigan,    containing   80,000 

Quantity  of  gold  in  the  acres  of  rich  land.  They  were 
world  available  for  money,  , 

$4,400,000,000.      This    esti-  recently  asked  what  they  were 

mate  is  one  admitted  by  going  to  do  with  it,  and  they 
both  sides  of  this  contro-  i-    ,     , 

versy.  replied  that  they  were   going 

If  other  than  national  to  stock  it  with  English  pheas- 
debts,  m  other  nations,  are  ,  1    o      iT      1 

as  large  in  proportion  to  ants.      Lord    Scully    has    put 

national  debts  as  ours  are,  newly  imported   Russians  on 

the  total   indebtedness   m  ,  •    ,       ,     :     tm- 

the  world,  of  all  kinds,  is  his  lands  m  Illinois  and  intro- 

a  b  o  u  t  $1000,000,000,000  duced  among  them  the  Irish 
(one  trillion)  and  the  an-  ° 
nual  interest  at  6  per  cent  rack  rent  landlord  system, 
is  over  fifty  billion  dollars,  Thus  our  lands,  the  natural 
or  more  than  ten  times  the  ' 
total  stock  of  gold  in  the  homes  of  the  people,  are  pass- 
world  available  for  money  j^g  into  the  hands  of  the  En- 
Indicating  that  debts  must          f 

be  contracted  in  payment  ghsh    and    American    money 

of    interest   accounts.     In  lenders.     A  land  of  liberty  is 

the    United    States,    how-  ,    .         , 

ever,  there  is  richer  pick-  being  desecrated,  and  by  laws 

ing,  and  private  debts  have  that  have  evaded  the  intelli- 
assumed,       relatively,       a 

larger  proportion  than  in  gence    of    our    people.     The 

other  nations.  awakening  cannot  come  too 
soon !  Those  who  would  evade  and  condone  the  situation 
are  criminally  negligent ! 

"We  are  also  being  deprived  of  our  balance  of  trade. 
We  have  to  pay  England  about  400  million  dollars  an- 
nually in  interest  on  the  TEN  BILLION  of  dollars  or 
more  that  our  people  owe  to  her  money  lenders.  So  that 
our  balance  of  trade  must  be  as  much  as  400  million  dol- 
lars annually  before  any  money  can  come  to  us." 


80 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


COIN  here  had  boys  go  through  the  audience  distrib- 
uting a  card  that  is  here  reproduced.    He  then  continued : 
"You  will  observe  by  studying  the  figures  on  the  card, 

our  exports  and  imports, 
that  while  we  have  ex- 
ported since  1873  $3,721,- 
142,159  of  products  more 
than  we  have  imported,  we 
have  nevertheless  received 
nothing  for  it.  The  column 
showing  exports  and  im- 
ports of  gold  and  silver 
shows  that  we  have  not 
been  paid  for  our  balance 
of  trade." 

He  stopped  long  enough 
for  them  all  to  examine  the 
figures  of  exports  and  im- 
ports of  merchandise  and 
precious  metals,  and  then 
continued : 

"We  should  have  received 
an  importation  of  $3,721,- 
142,159  in  precious  metals,  whereas  we  have  received 
nothing.  These  figures  are  taken  from  the  Treasurer's 
report  at  Washington.  What  the  figures  mean  is  that  we 
have  sold  of  our  cotton,  wheat  and  other  products  more 
than  we  have  purchased  of  the  balance  of  the  world  by 
$3,721,142,159  in  the  past  twenty-six  years.  Yet  we  have 
not  received  anything  in  exchange  for  that  balance  of 
trade.  Instead  of  an  import  of  precious  metals  to  pay  us 
the  more  than  three  and  a  half  billion  of  dollars,  we  have 
for  the  same  period  exported  a  net  balance  of  $409,291,- 
125  of  precious  metals — and  are  exporting  at  the  present 


FALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  HARPER 
BROTHERS. 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


82  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM: 

time  about  a  half  million  dollars  per  day.  What  it  means 
is  that  our  fields  and  factories  are  being  stripped  to  pay 
interest  to  the  money  lenders  of  England.  It  means  that 
the  backs  of  our  masses  are  bent  with  the  task  that  has 
broken  and  humbled  the  Egyptians  and  that  has  desolated 
India !  England  is  waging  an  economic  war  on  us.  In 
Egypt  and  India  she  has  placed  her  soldiers  to  protect  her 
bondholders,  who  are  taking  in  usury,  all  that  the  people 
produce ;  with  the  latter  rising,  periodically,  in  mute  pro- 
test, to  be  shot  down  by  their  cruel  task  masters!  The 
money  lenders  of  America,  who  are  advocating  our  pres- 
ent financial  laws,  are  the  soldiers  of  England  on  the  soil 
of  the  United  States !" 

COIN  was  here  interrupted  by  a  Mr.  Northcotte,  an 
Englishman,  living  temporarily  in  Chicago,  who  collects 
rents  from  American  tenants  for  many  Englishmen  who 
are  owners  of  real  estate  situated  in  that  city.  Mr.  North- 
cotte was  red  in  the  face  and  seemingly  very  indignant. 
He  asked: 

"How  would  you  have  built  your  railroads  in  the  United 
States  if  it  had  not  been  for  borrowing  the  ten  billion  of 
dollars  from  English  money  lenders  ?" 

Mr.  Northcotte's  accent  and  appearance  apprised  the 
little  patriot  and  the  audience  that  the  questioner  was  an 
Englishman,  and  COIN  answered,  addressing  him : 

"If  it  had  not  been  for  the  fall  in  prices  in  the  past  25 
years  of  cotton  from  18  cents  to  6  cents,  and  wheat  from 
$1.25  to  60  cents,  and  all  our  products  on  the  whole  50 
per  cent,  we  would  have  built  our  railroads  with  our  own 
money  received  from  the  sale  of  our  products,  and  would 
to-day  not  be  indebted  to  your  people  for  anything.  Your 
plain  people  are  as  much  the  victims  of  this  system  that 
you  have  introduced  into  the  United  States  as  ours  are ; 
and  it  is  your  money  lenders  and  other  privileged  classes, 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  83 

and  vain  aristocracy,  that  we  have  reference  to  when  we 
charge  your  nation  with  crimes  against  God  and  Alan ! 
We  would  emancipate  your  plain  people  as  we  would 
emancipate  our  own !" 

COIN'S  reply  to  Mr.  Northcotte  brought  down  the 
house  with  long  continued  applause.  As  many  as  fifty 
boys  were  standing  on  their  seats  and  amidst  the  con- 
fusion shouts  from  the  boys,  "What's  the  matter  with  the 
Boers?"  could  be  heard.  Evidently  they  felt  that  the 
Dutch  in  Africa  had  a  friend  in  the  little  statesman. 
When  the  noise  had  subsided,  COIN  continued : 

"England  has  struck  at  the  South  African  republics! 
Tenacious  of  their  rights,  they  refused  to  let  England 
by  peaceful  strategy  accomplish  a  Avicked  purpose  !  Foiled 
in  an  effort  at  peaceful  conquest,  England  raised  her  hand 
and  struck  !  that  she  might  accomplish  by  force  where  she 
had  failed  by  strategy !  Now  her  army  recoils,  bleeding 
and  wounded,  before  the  successful  onset  of  men  fighting 
for  liberty !  Let  us  emulate  the  courage  of  the  Repub- 
licans of  South  Africa  by  breaking  the  weapons  used  by 
England  to  subjugate  America !  A  vote  for  the  gold 
standard  is  a  vote  for  England !  A  vote  against  it  is  a 
vote  for  America ! — for  your  homes  and  firesides  !  Eng' 
land's  God  is  Greed !  By  peaceful  conquest  when  she 
can,  and  by  force  when  she  must — she  seeks  to  enslave 
mankind !" 

COIN. had  closed  amidst  tumultuous  applause.  He  had 
traced  to  its  fountain  source  the  cause  of  America's  ills, 
and  had  touched  the  heart  strings  of  all  who  heard  him, 
except  those  who  were  allied  in  interest  with  the  evil 
forces  that  are  seeking  the  subjugation  and  enslavement 
of  the  human  race. 

END  OF  THIRD  LESSON. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Fourth  Day. 

On  the  fourth  day  the  morning  daily  papers  in  Chicago, 
with  one  exception,  the  Chronicle,  again  assailed  the  little 
fellow  and  all  that  he  stood  for.  They  charged  that  his  ut- 
terances were  anarchistic  and  destructive  of  the  alleged 
high  state  of  civilization  in  which  we  live. 

They  did  not  answer  his  arguments  or  facts,  but  under- 
neath their  abuse  and  perversion  of  facts  there  was  evi- 
dent groping  to  find  a  hole  in  the  armor  of  his  logic.  If 
one  could  be  found  they  were  horsed  and  booted  in  the 
interest  of  the  privileged  classes,  and  would  insert  their 
spears  in  the  opening,  figuratively  dangle  his  body  in  the 
air  and  rejoice  as  much  as  ever  feudal  tyrant  had  rejoiced 
when  displaying  the  physical  head  of  a  reformer  at  the 
end  of  his  lance. 

The  Tribune  alleged  that  the  $7,513,954,361  of  deposits, 
referred  to  by  COIN  on  the  second  day,  were  largely 
made  up  by  deposits  of  one  bank  with  other  banks,  which 
would  mean  a  duplication  of  deposits.  It  also  alleged  that 
the  debts  due  the  banks  added  to  the  cash  in  the  bank  did 
not  equal  the  amount  of  the  deposits,  as  had  been  claimed 
by  the  teacher ;  and  cited  as  evidence  the  statement  of  the 
First  National  Bank  used  by  COIN  on  his  blackboard 
or  easel. 

COIN  opened  on  the  fourth  day  of  the  School  by  read- 
ing the  statement  referred  to  in  the  Tribune.  He  then 
took  up  the  report  of  Comptroller  Dawes,  and  showed  that 
in  his  report  the  amount  estimated  by  him  as  on  deposit  in 
the  banks  of  the  United  States  did  not  include  the  de- 

84 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


85 


posits  of  banks  with  each  other;  that  his  estimate  of 
$7,513,954,361  was  individual  deposits.  That  the  de- 
posits of  banks  with  each  other  came  under  separate  heads 
of  "due  to  other  national  banks,"  and  "due  to  state  banks 
and  bankers,"  and  that  these  sums  were  not  inchided  in 
the  $7,513,954,361.  COIN  here  again  placed  on  the  easel 
a  card  giving  the  language  of  the  Comptroller  of  the 
Currency,  italicizing  the  words  individual  deposits.     He 


-fi      M       ill 


WHAT    THE    COMPTROLLER 
SAYS: 

(See  page  22  of  his  report.) 
The   total   individual  deposits   of 
the  12,804  banks  are  $7,513,954,361. 
CHAS.  G.  DAWES, 
Comptroller  of  the  Currency. 
Sept.  7,  1899. 


then  said  that  the  First  National  Bank  statement  had  put, 
in  its  case,  the  bank  and  individual  deposits  together. 
That  if  the  First  National  Bank  would  deduct  its  deposits 
from  other  banks  from  the  total  deposits  of  $43,630,069.54 
the  result  would  show  the  individual  deposits ;  and  that 
the  latter  would  equal  the  "cash  on  hand,  $8,604,749.74," 
plus  "loans  and  discounts,  $24,824,263.73."  He  said  the 
First  National  Bank  had  failed  to  separate  the  deposits  of 


86  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

banks  from  individual  deposits  as  the  Comptroller  had 
done. 

The  Tribune  had  failed  to  find  a  hole  in  the  armor  of 
facts  of  the  little  champion  of  popular  liberty.  It  had 
poised  its  lance  at  what  it  thought  was  an  opening. 

Immediately  on  the  completion  of  COIN'S  answer  to 
the  Tribune,  Hon.  Joseph  C.  Sibley  of  Pennsylvania  rose 
and  put  a  question.    He  said  : 

*Tt  is  conceded  that  times  are  more  prosperous  now 
than  they  were  in  1896  or  1897,  and  if  our  present  system 
of  laws,  continued,  are  to  work  out  the  industrial  slavery 
of  the  people  that  you  have  indicated,  how  do  you  account 
for  the  better  times  that  at  present  exist?" 

Mr.  Sibley  is  a  Congressman,  a  prominent  Pennsyl- 
vania Democrat,  and  an  alleged  statement  of  his  had  been 
published  in  the  papers  to  the  effect  that  on  account  of 
better  times,  reversing  the  prophesy  of  the  Democrats  in 
1896,  the  Democratic  party  w^ould  have  to  abandon  its 
position  on  the  silver  question ;  and  his  question,  to  those 
present,  had  unusual  importance.  COIN'S  reply  was  the 
most  educational  of  any  one  thing  that  had  thus  far  oc- 
curred in  the  School. 

"During  the  period  that  a  nation,"  the  reply  began,  "is 
being  reduced  to  tenantry,  and,  by  the  operation  of  laws, 
its  property  transferred  to  the  few,  there  may  at  a  time  be 
more  prosperity,  temporarily,  infused  among  the  people  by 
causes  that  may  be  plainly  understood.  Our  system  of 
financial  laws  are  such  as  to  give  over  to  the  money  lend- 
ers as  much  as  two  billion  dollars  annually  in  payment  of 
discounts  and  interest,  and,  practically,  all  of  our  money 
now  belongs  to  them.  With  nothing  unusual  happening 
out  of  the  ordinary,  to  put  money  in  circulation,  the  money 
diverted  from  the  investment  market  and  hoarded  to  loan 
would,  together  with  demonetization,  cause  a  constant 


MONEY.  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


87 


gradual  lowering  of  prices  and  industrial  depression 
known  as  'hard  times.'  That  was  the  situation  in  1896 
and  1897.  It  began  about  1873  and  has  come  upon  the 
people  gradually.  A  succession  of  causes  has  operated  in 
the  past  two  years  to  increase  the  quantity  of  money  in  the 
market  in  search  of  property.  These  causes  do  not  arise 
out  of  a  correction  of  the  system  that,  continued,  is  deadly 
to  civilization,  but  are  temporary  in  affording  relief. 
"Anything,"  he  continued,  "that  will  temporarily  put 


TRIBUNE  EDITOR  READS  A  REPORT  OF  THE  SCHOOL. 


more  money  in  the  market  in  search  of  property  will  re- 
lieve the  situation,  as  occurred  during  Mr.  Cleveland's 
first  term,  to  be  followed  later  by  more  serious  conse- 
quences than  before.  What  has  happened  to  put  more 
money  in  circulation,  temporarily,  among  the  people  is  as 
follows : 

"First,  an  increased  production  of  gold.    This  is  tern- 


88  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

porary,  as  shown  by  the  world's  production  in  past  years. 
By  examining  the  table  of  the  world's  production  of  gold 
which  I  distribute  among  you,  you  will  see  that  between 
1850  and  i860,  with  less  population  and  less  demand  for 
money  than  at  the  later  period,  the  world's  production  of 
gold  was  greater  than  for  the  same  period  between  1880 
and  1890.  The  world's  production  of  the  two  metals 
varies;  the  two  combined  make  a  more  regular  supply 
than  either  separately.  The  supply  of  gold  cannot  be  re- 
lied on,  and  any  relief  from  that  quarter  must  be  tem- 
porary. Nor  of  itself  is  the  quantity  from  this  source 
sufficient  to  stem  the  increasing  demand  for  interest 
money ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  hoarding  of  gold  in  the  war 
chests  of  nations. 

"Second,  a  famine  in  about  one-half  the  world  for  the 
food  cereals,  since  June  30,  1896,  gave  us,  for  a  time,  an 
exceptional  market  at  a  high  price  for  our  crops  and  a 
balance  of  trade  in  three  years  of  1,400  million  dollars; 
from  which  we  received  204  million  dollars  in  money. 
This  added  to  our  money  stock  increased  the  quantity  in 
circulation  among  the  people — money  in  the  market  in 
search  of  property.  This  relief  is,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
also  temporary. 

"Third,  a  war  with  Spain  began  In  April,  1898,  that  has 
since  continued  against  the  people  that  Spain  was  prev- 
iously at  war  with,  and  is  still  in  progress.  It  has  added 
to  the  money  previously  in  circulation  about  300  million 
dollars,  and  is  increasing  the  amount  daily  by  about  500 
thousand  dollars.  This  is  all  money  being  paid  out  to  sol- 
diers, transportation  companies,  factories  and  farmers  in 
order  to  maintain  the  army  in  the  field.  It  is  mainly 
money  borrowed  by  the  government  and  coming  from  the 
money  lenders'  hoards,  and  going  immediately  into  the 
market  in  search  of  property.    It  gives  employment  to  tens 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  89 
GOLD   AND   SILVER. 

PRODUCTION  OF  GOLD  AND  SILVER  IN  THE  WORLD.  1792-1898. 
V.    S.    MINT   REPORT    OF   1893,    PAGE    179. 

Silver  (Coining 

/-i„i^                vniupt  U    S.  Total. 

Calender  Years.                          «i  0^07  000              $328  860,000  ?435,267,000 

1792-1800    ^}?Q'TR9'nno                 371677000  489.829,000 

1801-1810    • "4'n«'?m                 224  786  000  300,849,000 

1811-1820     Itimim                 191444  000  285,923,000 

1821-1830    .It'sn'm                 247,930  055  382,771,000 

1831-1840    int'?Mnnn                259  520  000  550,664,000 

1841-1848    ^SVOOO'OOO                   39;000;000  76,000,000 

1849     aI'SKo                   39  000  000  83,450.000 

1850  fiT'eoo'ooo             40  000  000  107-600.000 

1851    1^5^000                   40600  000  173,350,000 

1852    HM^^'Xn^               ■    AOfiOOOOO  196,050,000 


1?7450005  40,600,000  "'^'"^^■""^ 

1854  ii'OTSOOO  40  600  000  175,675,000 

1855  UT'eOOOOO  40  650,000 

1S56  1^3  275  000  40,650,000  ^'">'^^X'X^X 

1857  io7c^nnna  40  650  010  165,300,000 

1858  i'l'g'oOO  40:750,000  165,600,000 

1859  m  950  000  40;800,000  160,050,000 


1855    147'fiOOOOO  40;650;000  188.250,000 

1856    ,l:Ji'S5^'^nA  40;650,000  173,925,000 

40,650,010 
40,750,000 

■lo^J      liq'^r.onOO  40,800,000  xuu,u^v,vu^ 

1860    in  800  000  44  700  000  158,500,000 

1861    107  750  000  45  200,000  152,950,000 

1862    ■•••    ^XH^ooOO  49200  000  156.150,000 

1863    11?  000  000  51700  000  164,700,000 

1864    120  200  000  51950  000  172,150,000 

1865    in  100  000  50750,000  171.850,000 

1866    JnHrZ  R4  225  000  158,250,000 


J-ODo  in4n2fi000  54,225,000  xoo,-iuu,uw 

1867  109  725  000  50  225,000  159,950,000 

1863  IOfi'225  000  47  500,000  153,725,000 

1869  S  850  000  51575  000  158,425,000 


47,500,000 

1870  i"orO00'00O  6l:050;r0  168;050;000 

1871  99  600  000  65  250,000  164,850,000 

1872  %  200  000  81800,000  178,000,000 

1873  qo'750  000  71500  000  162.250.000 

1874  97  500  000  80  500.000  178.000,000 

1875  103  700  000  87  600,000  191,300,000 

1876  n4  000  000  81000,000  195,000,000 

1877  Tig  000  000  95,000,000  214,000,000 

1878  im  000000  96  000,000  205,000,000 

1879  EoOOOO  96700000  203,200,000 

1880  103  000000  102,000,000  205,000,000 

1881  lo^'oOOOOO  111800000  213,800,000 

1S82  95400000  115  300,000  210,700,000 

1883  101700  000  105,500.000  207,200,000 

1884  108  400  000  118  500  000  226.900,000 

1885  ioeOOOOOO  120,600.000  226.600,000 

1886  105  775  000  124,281,000  230,056,000 

1887  m  197  000  140,706.000  250,903,000 

1888  123  4S9  000  162,159,000  285,648,000 

1889  118  849  000  172,235.000  291,084,000 

1890  126  184  000  186,447,000  .  312,631,000 

1891 ns  861  000  196,459,000  335,320,000 

1892  $157494800  $213,944,400  $371,439,200 

T893 191175600  212,829,600  394,005.200 

1894  198763600  216,566,900  415,330,500 

1895 202  251600  203,069,200  405,320,800 

1896  238812000  212,134,800  450.946,800 

1897 ;:;::::::::  Is^Seoo  213.715.400  501,144.000 

1898    ••••• 


DO  MONEY.  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

of  thousands  of  workmen  in  factories,  on  ships,  railways 
and  elsewhere,  and  shows  what  a  little  money  can  do  when 
it  is  in  its  proper  channel.  It  has  drawn  from  the  over- 
supply  of  laborers  by  putting  about  75,000  men  in  the 
army,  additionally  to  the  25,000  that  it  previously  con- 
tained. Add  75,000  more  men  who  have  been  given  em- 
ployment to  transport  and  supply  the  army,  and  you  have 
an  idea  of  its  effect,  for  the  better,  on  the  labor  situation 
that  is  yet  restless  and  disturbed.  But  this  cause  is  also 
temporary.  And  unlike  the  first  and  second  causes,  must 
in  the  end  aggravate  the  general  evil.  The  new  money,  in 
this  instance,  thus  put  in  circulation,  increases  our  debts, 
and  will  increase  our  interest  payments.  It  puts  us,  in  the 
end,  still  more  securely  in  the  hands  of  the  men  who  make 
a  business  of  loaning  money,  and  will  eventually  engulf  us 
in  ruin  even  though  the  war  continues  indefinitely.  Our 
prosperity  at  present  may  be  likened  to  a  farmer  who,  in 
debt  and  despondent,  secures  an  additional  loan  and  in- 
vests the  borrowed  money  in  bananas  in  the  Philippine 
Islands.  While  spending  the  money  there  would  be  for 
him  temporary  prosperity. 

"Mr.  Dingley  and  Mr.  Bland  recently  were  lying  upon 
their  death  beds,  and  at  times  there  came  to  us  reports 
that  they  were  better,  holding  out  hope  of  permanent  re- 
covery, but  the  seat  of  the  disease  not  being  removed,  the 
improvement  proved  to  be  temporary,  and  in  the  end  they 
died ;  and  so  it  will  be  with  the  Republic  if  we  do  not  re- 
move the  seat  of  the  disease. 

"We  should  be  sufficiently  intelligent,"  continued  the 
little  statesman,  "to  know  the  cause  of  the  present  pros- 
perity to  some  of  our  people,  and  to  foresee  the  great 
danger  that  will  return  as  soon  as  the  temporary  causes 
that  exist  remove  themselves.  While  more  of  our 
people  are  employed  at  the  present  time  for  the  three 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  91 

reasons  I  have  stated,  there  are  other  causes, 
which  we  will  deal  with  to-morrow,  that  make 
true  the  statement  that  to  many  of  our  people 
their  situation  is  not  so  favorable  as  it  was  in  1896. 
The  slight  prosperity  the  farmers  are  enjoying  is  on  ac- 
count of  the  high  prices  of  their  products,  because  of 
famine  in  Europe  and  Asia  a  year  ago.  But  at  the  present 
time  the  farmer  cannot  buy  as  much  with  the  price  of  his 
crops  as  in  1896.  With  the  money  for  which  he  ex- 
changes his  products  he  cannot  buy  as  much  sugar,  medi- 
cines or  clothes  or  building  material  as  he  did  in  1896. 
Nor  can  he  with  the  average  price  of  his  crops,  at  the 
present  time,  pay  any  more  taxes  or  debts  than  he  could 
under  the  prices  of  1896. 

"But,  nevertheless,  we  can  see  the  benefits  that  have 
come  from  300  or  400  millions  of  additional  dollars  put 
into  circulation.  And  the  lesson  we  should  learn  from  it 
is,  not  to  rely  on  either  of  the  three  causes  that  have  given 
us  the  present  prosperity,  but  to  adopt  permanent  and 
better  methods  for  adding  to  the  money  supply.  The 
opening  of  the  mints  to  silver  would  give  us  200  million 
more  dollars  in  a  single  year.  The  spending  of  300  mil- 
lion dollars  on  public  improvements  would  have  the  same 
effect  as  when  spent  in  maintaining  an  army  of  soldiers  in 
the  field,  and  the  permanent  effect  would  be  infinitely  bet- 
ter. Statesmanship  will  give  us  permanently  what  famine 
and  war  is  giving  us  temporarily.  No  one  who  religiously 
understands  the  financial  question,"  concluded  the  little 
patriot,  "will  ever  lower  his  flag  or  trail  it  in  the  dust." 

In  the  audience  was  a  Mr.  Adam  Zeisler,  an  attorney  in 
Chicago,  and  one  of  the  shrewdest  men  of  his  race.  He  is 
a  gold  standard  men  and  had  come  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
fusing the  little  financier  by  putting  what  he  regarded  as 
questions  that  would  accomplish  his  purpose.    He  knew 


92  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

that  others  had  failed,  but  there  are  always  men  who  think 
they  can  succeed  where  others  do  not. 

Mr.  Zeisler,  with  a  paper  in  his  hand,  evidently  contain- 
ing memoranda  of  his  questions,  began : 

"The  objection,"  he  said,  "is  made  to  the  opening  of  the 
mints  to  silver  on  the  same  terms  with  gold,  as  they  were 
formerly  open,  for  the  reason  that  the  cheaper  metal  has 
always  driven  the  dearer  metal  out  of  the  country,  and  left 
us  only  with  the  quantity  of  money  made  from  our  supply 
of  the  remaining  metal.  It  is  known  as  the  Gresham  law, 
meaning  that  a  man  of  that  name  first  called  attention  to 
it,  as  one  would  speak  of  the  law  of  gravitation.  Is  it  not 
a  fact  that  such  is  the  case  ?" 

"The  Gresham  law,"  replied  the  boy,  "like  the  saying 
that  'the  king  can  do  no  wrong,'  is  a  product  of  the  in- 
genuity of  the  special  classes.  When  the  two  metals  were 
in  free  competition  to  supply  the  demand  for  money,  the 
metal  in  the  two  dollars  never  varied  more  than  3  per  cent 
from  par  on  the  French  ratio  and  about  5  per  cent  on  our 
ratio  from  an  equal  commercial  value.  And  when  one  of 
the  metals  was  worth  3  per  cent  more  than  the  other,  as 
was  silver  for  many  years  before  1873,  we  coined  our  gold 
and  shipped  our  silver  to  Europe.  If  not  in  debt  to  for- 
eigners at  the  time  of  shipping  it,  we  exchanged  our  silver 
for  gold,  brought  the  gold  here  and  coined  it  into  money, 
and  had  as  much  metallic  money  as  we  had  befote  the  ex- 
change was  made  and  3  per  cent  more.  If  in  debt  at  such 
a  time,  to  people  of  foreign  nations,  we  paid  them  with 
silver  and  with  each  dollar  shipped  we  paid  3  per  cent 
more  debt  than  to  have  paid  them  with  the  other  metal. 
The  dearer  metal  leaving  us  does  not  lessen  the  supply  of 
metallic  money.  It  either  brings  back  in  exchange  more 
of  the  other  that  is  coined  into  money ;  or  saves  the  other 
from  going,  by  having  paid  our  debts.    As  it  is  now,  we 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


93 


pay  less  debts  with  our  silver  than  before ;  and  the  low 
price  of  our  products,  that  have  fallen  with  silver,  makes 
it  that  much  harder  for  us  to  pay  our  debts.  Our  exports 
do  not  bring  us  by  one-half  as  much  money  as  they  did 
when  the  two  metals  were  in  free  competition.  Under 
free  coinage  the  bullion  answers  for  money  in  the  settle- 
ment of  large  balances  the  same  as  coins." 

Wherever  a  gold  standard  man  has  met  the  proposition 
COIN  has  made  he  has  found  it  unanswerable;  and  Mr. 
Zeisler  was  nonplused.  He  referred  to  his  memoranda 
and  came  back  with  this  question : 

"Have  we  not  coined  by  far  more  silver  since  1873  than 
we  did  for  a  like  period  prior  to  that  year?" 

"Yes,"  was  the  reply,  "but  we  have  coined  it  as  repre- 
sentative money,  or  discredited  money  resting  on  gold  as 
a  redeemer,  creating  confusion  in  our  monetary  system 
and  emphasizing  the  demand  for  gold.  For  the  same 
period  prior  to  1873,  we  mainly  used  our  silver  in  bars, 
for  money,  in  exchanging  it  for 
gold  or  in  paying  foreign  debts." 

Mr.  Zeisler  paused  a  moment, 
looking  toward  the  ceiling.  His 
theory  was  that  a  question  could  be 
put  that  the  boy  could  not  answer 
satisfactorily,  and  that  it  would  re- 
sult in  the  confusion  of  the  little 
financier  and  his  friends.  One's 
theory  must  indeed  be  sound  if  he 
can  stand  before  an  audience  of  ex- 
perts, who  oppose  him,  and  his  an- 
swers to  all  questions  be  consistent. 
A  public  speaker  by  retort,  and  the 
use  of  wit,  may  confuse  a  ques- 
tioner, but  not  so  if  his  position  be  unsound  and  his  an- 
swers are  respectful.    When  the  advocates  of  a  political 


MR.  ZEISLER  LOOKS  TO- 
WARD THE  CEILING. 


94  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

party  are  not  willing  to  throw  their  public  meetings 
open  to  questions  it  is  a  sign  of  the  unsoundness  of  their 
position,  and  that  they  are  afraid  of  the  common  sense  of 
the  people.  COIN  had  always  been  willing  to  throw  his 
meetings  open  to  questions  and  make  respectful  replies. 
Mr.  Zeisler  was  now  about  to  search  again  for  a  vulner- 
able point. 

"If  it  be  true  that  products  are  cheaper  than  they  were 
in  1873,  is  it  not  also  true  that  money  is  cheaper  now  than 
it  was  then  and  that  it  can  be  borrowed  for  a  less  rate  of 
interest  than  ever  before?  Is  it  not  true  that  the  banks 
are  full  of  money,  and  that  there  is  as  much  money  as 
there  ever  was?" 

"I  will  first  answer  you,"  replied  COIN,  "by  relating  a 
story.  A  man  once  had  all  of  his  crops  destroyed  by  a 
drouth ;  it  had  not  rained  for  several  months,  and  he  was 
standing  by  the  roadside  lamenting  his  loss  to  a  stranger, 
when  the  stranger  replied  to  the  farmer  that  he  was 
wrong,  saying  that  'there  is  as  much  water  on  the  earth  as 
there  ever  was.'  'But,'  replied  the  farmer,  'it  is  not  where 
it  ought  to  be.'  "  This  retort  of  the  little  fellow  was  fol- 
lowed by  applause  and  general  laughter. 

"There  may  be,"  the  little  teacher  continued,  "as  much 
money,  per  capita,  as  there  ever  was,  and  it  is  possible  to 
have  a  normal  supply  of  money  and  yet  have  it  diverted 
from  the  channels  of  trade  till  all  business  suflfers  for  the 
want  of  it.  Suppose  a  reliable  stream  of  water  along 
which  manufactories  have  been  erected  that  have  for  years 
relied  on  this  water  for  povv^er,  as  do  the  paper  mills  of 
Fox  River,  and  suppose  a  class  of  men  by  law  get  the 
privilege  of  dealing  in  water,  by  which  they  pump  the 
water  out  of  that  river,  storing  it  in  reservoirs,  and  charg- 
ing the  mill  owners  for  the  use  of  the  water,  the  principal 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


95 


and  interest  to  be  returned  in  water  from  the  stream  to  the 
reservoirs  through  pumps.  It  is  only  a  question  of  time 
when,  under  such  an  arrangement,  the  water  dealers 
would  pump  the  stream  dry,  or  there  would  be  only  such 
water  in  it  as  could  be  purchased  from  the  water  dealers 
by  placing  bonds  and  mortgages  upon  the  factories.  The 
factories  could  not  run  without  the  water  and  would  be  at 
the  mercy  of  the  water  dealers — if  the  law  allowed  water 
to  be  thus  dealt  in.    The  water  will  be  in  existence  but  it 


'■ — -^— -It"  d 


THE  FARMER  AND  THE  STRANGER. 


will  not  be  turning  the  wheels  of  the  factories.  We  have 
our  money  dealers,  the  banks  are  their  pumps,  and  their 
steel  vaults  are  their  reservoirs.  The  stream  of  money 
in  the  channels  of  trade  may  thus,  at  times,  be  very  small 
and  more  bonds  issued  and  mortgages  put  on  factories  to 
replenish  it. 

"Answering  the  other  part  of  your  question,"  continued 


96  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

the  little  statesman,  "it  is  true  that  money  is  loaned  now  at 
a  less  rate  of  interest  than  before.  The  reason  for  this  is 
that  the  'interest  and  discount  system'  has  been  bringing 
to  the  money  lender  an  ever  increasing  quantity  of  money, 
and  the  competition  between  them  to  loan  it  is  increasing 
accordingly,  thus  bringing  down  the  rate  of  interest. 
First  having  crippled  or  destroyed  business,  and  received 
under  mortgaged  sales  the  homes  of  the  people,  there 
comes  a  time  when  there  is  naturally  less  demand  for  bor- 
rowed mone}^,  and  then  the  money  loaners  compete  more 
fiercely  for  the  loans  that  are  to  be  made.  The  first  effect 
is  to  bring  down  the  rate  of  interest  and  the  second  effect 
is  to  cause  a  consolidation  of  the  banks.  In  a  country 
town  where  there  are  now  two  banks,  in  time  the  owners 
will  come  together  and  say,  'On  account  of  the  low  rate  of 
interest  we  must  reduce  expenses  to  maintain  our  usual 
profits,  and  we  must  act  together  to  hold  up  the  rate ;'  and 
then  the  two  banks  will  consolidate  for  that  purpose,  let- 
ting one  cashier  and  set  of  clerks  go.  The  latter,  the  dis- 
charged cashier  and  clerks,  can  then  have  leisure  to  go  out 
in  the  country  and  sit  down  on  the  grass  and  study  the 
financial  question. 

"Having  drank  up  the  blood  of  civilization,"  continued 
the  little  teacher,  "thereby  paralyzing  industry,  the  banks 
and  mortgage  companies  will  consolidate  in  all  the  cities 
and  towns.     They  will  own  the  factories  and   former 
homes  of  the  people,  and  signs  'for  rent'  will  multiply. 
They  will  contend  against  the  decline  of  their  business  by 
encouraging  new  loans  wherever  they  can — to  the  govern- 
ment, to  municipalities ;  they  will  compete  with  the  pawn- 
brokers, as  they  are  doing  here  in  Chicago,  in  a  search 
for  new  avenues  for  loaning  money.     They  will  try  to 
break  the  present  debt  constitutional  limit  the  states  have 
placed  on  towns  and  cities,  in  order  to  loan  to  them  more 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


97 


money  than  they  are  now  allowed  to  borrow.  They  will 
encourage  wars  for  conquest  and  raid  the  national  Treas- 
ury for  gold  in  order  to  loan  the  government  more  money. 
And  when  big  loans  thus  made  put  suddenly  more  money 
in  circulation  and  temporarily  better  times,  they  will  point 
to  the  better  times  in  an  effort  to  refute  their  critics. 

"But  to  have  a  low  rate  of  interest,"  he  continued,  "does 
not  mean  cheap  money.  The  price  of  money  is  governed 
by  what  it  takes  to  buy  it.    If  the  people's  property  buys 


EX-BANK  CLERKS  STUDYING 
T^'l--^.  THE   FINANCIAL 

QUESTION. 

little  money,  then  money  is  dear  and  not  cheap.  You 
should  not  confuse  the  interest  rate  on  money  with  its 
buying  power.  You  can  have  a  low  rate  of  interest  and 
dear  money." 

"What  I  want  to  know  is,"  said  H.  C.  Cox  of  New 
London,  Mo.,  interrupting  Mr.  Zeisler,  who  was  about  to 
put  another  question,  "why  cannot  the  people  unite  and 
get  what  they  want?  I  mean  the  reformers.  They  quar- 
rel among  themselves  and  make,  seemingly,  no  headway." 


98  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

"The  remedy,"  replied  COIN,  "is  through  laws  and  the 
repeal  of  laws ;  and  to  secure  this  the  people  must  organ- 
ize, and  their  organization  becomes  known  as  a  political 
party.     Imperfect  education  results  in  confusion  as  to. 
what  the  remedies  are.    Again,  many  men  are  more  de- 
sirous of  holding  the  offices  than  they  are  of  working  out 
a  reformation.    Such  men  are  politicians  and  not  students 
of  civilization.    They  announce  their  own  candidacy  and 
push  themselves  for  office,  often,  prompted  by  vain  motives 
or  a  desire  for  the  salaries.    Again,  many  reformers  are 
without  charity,  and  believe  no  one  is  pure  but  themselves. 
The  remedy  is  education,  not  with  a  view  to  promoting 
oneself,  but  toward  working  out  a  perfect  government  by 
the  people  who  do  not  want  political  office,  organizing  and 
selecting  those  who  in  their  judgment  are  best  fitted  to 
fill  the  offices.    The  time  should  come  when  men  who  push 
themselves  for  office  should  be  suspected  of  vain  or  selfish 
motives,  and  the  people  should  be  equally  as  insistent  on 
steps  toward  selecting  the  proper  men.    However,  in  the 
meantime  it  should  not  be  to  the  discredit  of  any  one  that 
he  announces  his  candidacy  for  an  office  or  tries  to  secure 
it,  as  under  the  present  practice  the  man  who  wants  an 
office  for  the  purpose  of  using  it  for  the  common  good, 
finds  that  unless  he  does  push  himself  forward,  others  who 
are  doing  likewise,  with  questionable  motives,  will  suc- 
ceed.    A  reformer  finds  the  people  negligent  and  often 
tries  to  succeed,  with  the  common  good  in  view,  to  get 
himself  nominated  and  elected.    When  the  people  are  gen- 
erally educated,  and  learn  that  they  'serve  their  own  in- 
terest best  by  promoting  the  common  good,'  they  will 
unite,  without  quarreling  or  confusion,  and  will  hunt  out 
the  right  men,  nominate  and  elect  them  to  office, — who, 
in  a  practical  way,  will  advance  the  cause  of  civilization." 


MONEY.  TRUSTS.  IMPERIALISM. 


99 


Mr.  Zeisler  had  not  finislied  his  memoranda  of  questions 
and  was  now  up  again,  putting  this  question : 

"Is  not  the  free  coinage  of  silver  in  the  interest  of  the 
silver  bullion  owners  ?" 

"No  more,"  the  little  fellow  replied,  "than  the  free  coin- 
age of  gold  is  in  the  interest  of  the  gold  bullion  owners. 
Neither  is  in  the  interest  of  the  bullion  owners,  but  in  the 
interest  of  civilization.  As  long  as  there  is  international 
commerce,  one  or  both  of  the  precious  metals  will  be  used 
as  a  medium  of  exchange  in  settling  international  bal- 
ances. The  United  States  is  a  great  producer  of  silver 
and  should  immediately  remonetize  it  and  encourage  its 
use  by  all  nations." 

"Will  not  its  free  coinage;"  said  Mr.  Zeisler,  "lessen  the 
purchasing  power  of  the  money  of  the  savings  bank  de- 
positors ?" 

"Just  as  more  money  in  circulation  from  any  cause  will 
lessen  the  purchasing  power  of 
money,"  replied  COIN,  and  then  con- 
tinued :  "The  savings  bank  depositor 
is  more  interested  in  his  employment 
or  business  where  he  makes  his  money 
than  he  is  in  what  he  has  saved.  If 
civilization  pinches  and  shrivels  till  his 
occupation  is  gone,  he  may  find  too 
late  that  from  a  selfish  desire  to  en- 
hance the  purchasing  power  of  his 
savings  he  has  cut  off  the  supply  from 
whence  the  savings  were  coming." 

Mr.  Zeisler  was  now  mopping  his 
brow  with  his  handkerchief.  He  had 
told  some  friends  that  he  was  going  to  put  the  questions 
and  what  the  questions  were,  and  he  was  impelled  to 
carry  out  his  program. 


MR.  ZEISLER  MOPS 
HIS   BROW. 


lUU  iUUiNiiY,   iKUb'ib,  IMPERIALISAI. 

"Will  not  our  wage-earners,"  he  asked,  "numbering 
hundreds  of  thousands,  if  we  have  free  coinage  of  silver, 
find  that  they  can  buy  less  with  their  wages  then  than 
now  ?" 

"The  first  effect,"  the  little  statesman  replied,  "from 
increasing  the  money  in  circulation  is  to  give  employment 
to  more  people.  When  the  supply  of  unemployed  labor  is 
exhausted  then  labor  is  like  any  product  and  advances  in 
price  as  the  demand  exceeds  the  supply.  The  more  money 
in  circulation  the  more  business  expands  and  develop- 
ment proceeds,  and  a  point  is  reached  where  the  idle  labor 
is  employed  and  after  that  the  demand  for  all  kinds  of 
labor  exceeds  the  supply  and  then  all  kinds  of  labor  ad- 
vances proportionately  with  the  advance  in  the  price  of 
property.     The  advantage  is  four-fold. 

"First,  all  would  have  employment. 

"Second,  there  would  be  no  strikes  or  killing  of  each 
other  on  account  of  strikes,  or  loss  of  time  through  strikes 
and  lockouts. 

"Third,  tens  of  thousands  of  wage-earners  could  find 
employment  in  the  silver  mines  of  the  West,  thus  serving 
to  draw  off  from  the  labor  supply  of  this  section  that 
many  men. 

"Fourth,  the  wage-earner  would  not  be  doomed,  as  he 
is  now,  to  be  without  hope  of  the  future,  of  ever  being 
anything  but  a  wage-earner  and  a  dependant  on  some 
one  else  for  employment.  As  other  occupations  would 
be  profitable,  including  farming,  he  would  look  forward 
to  and  see  the  day  when  he  would  put  his  money  in  a 
farm  or  other  profitable  business  for  himself — and  have 
and  enjoy  a  home.  Whereas  now,  as  civilization  must 
inevitably  shrink  and  shrivel  under  the  present  system, 
the  farmer's  boys  with  farming  made  unprofitable,  or  v/ho 
are  losing  their  farms,  are  becoming  dependants;  will 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


101 


be  forced  into  the  ranks  of  the  wage-earners,  increasing 
the  supply  of  the  latter,  necessitating  strikes,  causing 
bloodshed  and  the  enslavement  of  splendid  men  and  wo- 
men. They  may  buy  more  with  the  money  they  get  now 
^when  they  get  it— but  under  the  present  system  their 
fate  is  deplorable." 

As  the  little  teacher  closed  this  answer,  a  wage-earner 
by  the  name  of  Pat  O'Connor,  who  was  sitting  just  to  the 
right  of  the  platform,  rose,  walked  up  and  shook  hands 
with   COIN,   saying:     'T   want  to  thank  you  for  that 

answer.  It  will  give  hope  and 
courage  to  tens  of  thousands  of 
our  people.  It  will  show  them 
the  remedy." 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  pleas- 


A  WAGE  EARNER  SHAKES  HANDS  WITH  COIN. 

ant  scene  it  was  found  that  Air.  Zeisler  had  taken  his  seat 
without  finishing  his  list  of  questions. 

"There  are  men  who  will  not  work  if  you  give  it  to 
them  to  do,"  said  O.  W.  Crawford  of  Chicago.  "The 
associated  charities  offer  men  their  board  for  working  on 
the  woodpiles  and  they  refuse,"  concluded  Mr.  Crawford. 

"No  doubt  but  what  you  say  is  true,"  replied  COIN, 


102  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

''there  are  many  men  under  present  conditions  who  be- 
come so  discouraged  they  no  longer  have  the  incentive  to 
energy  and  industry.  Open  up  opportunities  and  renew 
hope  and  slowly  that  incentive  will  return  as  warmth 
may  slowly  return  to  the  frozen  limb.  It  is  not  board  or 
alms  the  people  want.  By  accepting  alms  one  may  de- 
grade his  character — and  thereby  admit  that  he  is  a  slave." 

"I  want  to  know,"  said  Mr.  John  McBoyle  of  Chicago, 
"if  the  wage-earners  of  England  did  not  petition  that  gov- 
ernment to  open  the  mints  to  silver  as  they  were  open  to 
gold?" 

"Yes,"  replied  COIN,  "and  their  petition  was  refused. 
In  England  the  financial  laws  are  shaped,  as  they  are  in 
this  country,  by  the  money  lenders,  and  there  the  people 
are  without  a  popular  form  of  government  and  are  with- 
out hope  of  getting  what  they  may  petition  for,  if  it  is 
against  the  wishes  of  the  money  power.  The  people  of 
all  monarchies  have  crossed  the  dead  line,  and  cannot  be 
saved  except  by  the  force  of  example,  by  the  United  States 
rearing  here  a  new  and  splendid  civilization." 

"What  force  is  there  in  the  proposition,"  said  Wm.  A. 
Field  of  Texas,  "that  as  other  nations  have  adopted  the 
gold  standard,  it  makes  more  necessary  that  we  should  do 
so?" 

"There  is  no  force  in  it,"  replied  the  little  statesman. 
"Just  the  reverse  is  true.  The  more  other  nations  increase 
the  demand  for  gold  the  greater  the  reason  why  we  should 
not  solely  depend  on  it  for  the  basis  of  our  money  sys- 
temo  And  the  more  other  nations  close  their  mints  to 
silver,  the  greater  the  opportunity  for  us  to  look  to  that 
metal  for  a  source  of  supply.  There  are  good  reasons 
why  we  should  make  ourselves  independent  of  a  metal 
that  the  rest  of  the  world  is  relying  on  for  its  money. 
Every  few  years  we  find  Europe  taking  our  gold  away 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


103 


from  us,  and  its  shipment  in  large  quantities  from  New 
York  to  Europe  has  at  times  caused  us  to  have  panics. 
Cover  Europe  and  the  United  States  with  the  same  finan- 
cial blanket,  and  all  that  Europe  has  to  do  is  to  turn  over, 
to  pull  the  blanket  off  of  us. 

International  and  Domestic  Money. 

"There  are  two  kinds  of  money,"  he  continued,  "inter- 
national money  and  domestic  money.    Strictly  speaking. 


ENGLISH  LABORERS  PETITION  THE  QDEEN 
FOR  BIMETALLISM. 


there  is  no  such  thing  as  international  money,  but  the 
precious  metals,  one  or  both,  have  by  common  custom 
been  used  to  settle  international  balances,  and  are  ac- 
cepted usually  in  bars,  by  weight;  but  whether  in  coins 
or  in  bars,  it  is  always  accepted  by  weight.  There  is  no 
law  between  nations  that  has  fixed  what  money  is,  and 
by  trade  custom,  the  precious  metals  have  been  used  as 
such.    Within  a  nation,  however,  it  is  different.    There, 


104  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

what  is  used  as  money  for  settling  balances  is  fixed  by 
law.  There  the  law  fixes  what  is  to  be  used  as  a  medium 
of  exchange,  and  you  can  have  as  domestic  money  some- 
thing that  is  not  used  as  between  nations — a  form  of. 
money  that  does  not  and  will  not  leave  the  nation,  as  its 
use  is  purely  domestic.  And  such  a  money  is  the  kind 
to  be  most  relied  on  for  maintaining  a  regular  normal 
supply. 

"The  things  of  which  I  speak  appeal  to  your  common 
sense !  Let  no  set  of  men  do  your  thinking  for  you  on 
a  question  of  public  policy !  The  man  who  is  afraid  of 
public  discussion  has  an  evil  intention !  Weigh  all  things 
and  accept  no  man's  judgment  except  as  it  will  stand 
the  test  of  unselfish  analysis !  The  human  mind,  truly 
desirous  of  the  common  good,  is  divinely  moulded,  and 
can  successfully  work  out  the  destiny  of  mankind !  The 
human  race  has  passed  through  centuries  of  torture  and 
slavery,  by  letting  the  privileged  classes  think  for  them 
on  public  questions !  Let  us  now  resolve  that  the  dawn 
of  man's  emancipation  is  at  hand !" 

COIN  had  closed  for  the  day,  and  as  he  did  so,  Rev. 
Dr.  Thomas  rose  in  the  audience  and  said : 

"I  have  listened  attentively  at  this  School,  and  I  now 
understand  what  was  said  on  the  first  day  about  the 
religion  of  politics.  While  we  ministers  are  trying  to 
save  souls,  the  devil  is  industriously  at  work  driving  men 
to  poverty,  despair  and  to  crime.  And  I  can  see  how 
religion  is  at  its  best  in  politics,  and  politics  at  its  best  may 
be  a  heaven  on  earth.  The  ministers  ought  to  all  engage 
in  the  study  of  this  subject — I  hope  they  will.  If  the  men 
who  are  making  munificent  donations  to  endow  colleges 
will  aid  with  their  means  such  avenues  of  learning  as  this, 
until  the  people  of  this  United  States  are  brought  into  one 
great  school  of  education  on  the  subject  of  civilization, 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISxM. 


105 


as  affected  by  the  laws  of  a  government,  I  can  see  how 
this  knowledge  may  spread  rapidly.  And  it  means,  if 
pressed,  the  beginning,  soon,  of  a  civilization  so  grand 
and  so  inspiring  as  to  transcend  all  earthly  things." 
•  The  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  was  followed  by  Mr.  S.  L.  Clem- 
ens, the  noted  writer  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  "Mark 
Twain."     He  rose  and  said : 

'T  was  once  asked  by  the  newspapers  to  write  an  article 
entitled  'My  First  Lie.'    I  wrote  it.     I  could  not  remem- 


A  PANIC  IN  A  BED  ROOM. 

ber  the  first  lie,  but  I  did  remember  the  second.  I  had 
discovered  that  when  a  baby  if  I  cried  I  was  petted  and 
got  about  all  I  wanted.  To  be  stuck  by  a  pin  was  fol- 
lowed by  petting  and  sugar.  So,  one  day,  the  pin  not 
sticking,  I  thought  it  did  and  cried  as  if  it  did.  That 
was  my  second  lie— I  don't  remember  the  first.  But  as 
I  wrote  on  the  subject  I  thought  that  nearly  all  mankind 
was  lying  from  morning  till  night,  from  the  time  they 


106  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

got  up  in  the  morning  till  they  went  to  bed  at  night,  I 
speak  of  the  lie  of  silent  assertion.  For  instance,  it  would 
not  be  possible  for  a  humane  and  intelligent  person  to 
invent  a  rational  excuse  for  slavery ;  yet  you  will  remem- 
ber in  the  early  days  of  the  emancipation  agitation  in  the 
North  the  agitator  got  but  small  help  or  countenance 
from  any  one.  Argue  and  plead  and  pray  as  they  might, 
they  could  not  break  the  universal  stillness  that  reigned, 
from  pulpit  and  press  all  the  way  down  to  the  bottom 
of  society — the  clammy  stillness  created  and  maintained 
by  silent  assertion,  the  silent  assertion — that  there  wasn't 
anything  going  on  in  which  humane  and  intelligent  people 
were  interested. 

"What  I  am  arriving  at  is  this :  When  whole  races 
and  peoples  conspire  to  propagate  gigantic  mute  lies  in 
the  interest  of  tyrannies  and  shams,  why  should  we  care 
anything  about  the  trifling  lies  and  little  crimes  and  short- 
comings of  fellowmen  that  receive  so  much  attention 
from  the  press  and  pulpit  and  society  of  to-day?  To 
sum  up:  The  silent,  colossal,  national  lie,  that  is  the 
support  and  confederate  of  all  the  tyrannies  and  iniquities 
that  afflict  the  people — that  is  the  one  to  throw  bricks  and 
sermons  at.  Little  man,"  addressing  COIN,  "more 
power  to  your  elbow  !  and  every  rugged  and  honest  heart 
in  the  land  will  say  amen  to  what  I  have  said !" 

And  others  spoke,  until  the  close  of  the  School  session 
for  the  day  resembled  an  old  time  class  meeting. 

END  OF  FOURTH  LESSON. 


CHAPTER  V. 
The  Fifth  Day. 

On  the  assembling  of  the  School  on  Friday,  the  fifth 
day,  there  was  unusual  interest  manifested  from  the 
known  fact  that  "Trusts"  was  to  be  the  subject  discussed. 

From  a  reading  of  the  morning  papers  it  was  evident 
that  the  little  schoolmaster  had  broken  the  lances  of  the 
"royal  dragoons"  who  now,  as  it  were,  circled  about  him 
in  the  arena  of  debate,  observing  him  closely  and  hoping 
for  vantage  point  that  had  not  been  discovered. 

His  manner  of  conducting  himself,  his  charity,  his 
fairness,  candor  of  meeting  all  questions,  and,  withal, 
his  appeal  to  his  hearers'  intelligence,  had  resulted  in 
making  the  abuse  of  the  newspapers  of  the  privileged 
classes  sound  silly  and  out  of  place.  The  subject  had 
been  put  upon  the  high  plane — that  the  true  purpose  of 
human  government  is  the  promotion  and  development 
of  the  human  race — and  upon  such  a  field  of  conflict  the 
advocates  of  special  privileges  were  at  a  disadvantage. 

He  appeared  promptly  on  the  platform  at  the  time  for 
the  opening  of  the  exercises,  and  was  greeted  with  hearty 
applause. 

"All  over  the  land,"  he  began,  "we  see  wealth  and 
opportunities  passing  into  the  hands  of  the  few,  and  the 
number  of  the  dependants  increasing.  The  land,  upon 
which  should  be  the  homes  of  the  people,  their  homes  by 
ownership,  and  the  industries  that  were  formerly  divided 
among  the  millions,  with  each  mainly  his  own  employer, 
or  the  hope  of  being  such,  now  passing  rapidly  into  the 
ownership  of  a  few.    The  employees  becoming,  relatively, 

107 


108 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


mere  numerous,  with  a  growing  feeling  of  their  depen- 
dency upon  the  few  who  own  the  wealth  and  the  oppor- 
tunities from  which  a  living  can  be  made.  The  employees 
are  now  mainly  tenants ;  or,  where  they  are  the  owners 
of  homes,  uncertain  as  to  the  duration  of  their  employ- 
m.ent;  or  as  to  how  soon  the  home,  beautified  by  wife 
and  children,  is  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  others,  when 
employment  is  lost,  or  must  be  sought  elsewhere.    Tens 


A  WARNING  FIVE  YEARS  AGO. 


of  thousands  are  discouraged  in  the  unequal  strife  and 
have  lost  hope  and  incentive.  Other  tens  of  thousands 
are  buckling  on  their  armor  for  the  impending  struggle ! 
"The  concentration  of  industries  and  wealth  in  the 
possession  of  a  few  are  known  as  Trusts.  They  are  some- 
tim.es  referred  to  as  combinations  or  monopolies.  They 
did  not  spring  up  in  a  day.  The  centering  of  so  much 
wealth  in  the  keeping  of  a  few  has  been  going  on  for 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  109 

more  than  twenty-five  years,  and  now  assumes  propor- 
tions that  attracts  the  attention  of  every  one.  In  the 
previous  days  of  the  School  we  have  learned  the  reason 
for  the  property  of  the  many  passing  into  the  hands  of 
the  few. 

"In  order  to  act  intelligently  and  remove  the  evil,  we 
must  know  the  cause  of  Trusts.  All  remedies  will  fail 
unless  the  cause  that  produces  Trusts  is  removed.  The 
previous  days  of  the  School  were  necessary  for  you  to 
understand  the  subject  upon  which  we  have  now  entered. 
In  my  'School'  held  in  this  city  beginning  March  4,  1895, 
I  gave  as  the  natural  result  of  the  workings  of  our  finan- 
cial system  the  coming  of  the  present  situation,  and  I  now 
call  your  attention  to  a  picture  used  in  illustrating  what 
was  then  said." 

COIN  displayed  the  picture  referred  to,  to  the  audience. 
It  appears  on  page  24  of  the  report  of  his  SCHOOL  of 
March,  1895.  He  then  continued:  "The  little  pigs  as 
shown  in  that  picture  are  now  large,  grown-up  rooters! 
Those  who  have  understood  the  financial  question  have 
always  known  the  cause  of  Trusts.  Those  who  have  held 
different  views  on  the  financial  question,  but  who  recog- 
nize the  great  danger  of  Trusts,  are  reluctant  to  recog- 
nize the  error  of  their  previous  opinions,  or  being  inter- 
ested on  the  side  of  the  Money  Trust,  are  willing  to  find 
other  excuses  for  Industrial  Trusts,  rather  than  believe 
that  the  business  that  profits  them  is  the  cause  thereof. 
And  others,  free  from  selfish  motives,  have  honestly 
differed  as  to  the  cause  of  Trusts. 

"It  was  obvious  to  many  in  1895  that  this  would  be 
the  situation.  The  gradual  bankruptcy  of  the  people, 
under  falling  prices,  is  causing  our  factories  and  busi- 
ness institutions,  and  lands,  to  pass  into  the  ownership  of 
the  creditor  classes — the  money  lenders.    The  passing  of 


110 


MONEY,  TRUSTS.  IMPERIALISM. 


the  property  of  the  many  to  the  few  thus  gradually  went 
on.  When  the  business  and  industries  belonged  to  the 
millions,  competition  regulated  prices  and  combinations 
were  impossible  and  not  thought  of.  The  nearer  the 
ownership  came  to  be  reduced  to  a  few,  the  more  possible 
became  meetings  of  these  men,  to  make  agreements  for 
controlling  trade  and  fixing  prices,  that  they  would  all 
agree  to  charge  for  the  articles  produced. 


THEY  AEE  NOW  FULL  GEOWN. 


"The  idea  first  arose  with  them  from  its  becoming  a 
necessity.  As  the  quantity  of  money  in  circulation — 
money  in  the  market  in  search  of  property — grew  less, 
the  prices  of  products  went  down,  till  there  was  no  profit 
and  often  a  loss  in  their  production.  This  led  to  meet- 
ings where  the  owners  of  factories  conferred  as  to  what 
might  be  done  to  save  themselves  from  further  loss  and 
ruin." 

"Why  didn't  they  organize  to  defend  themselves 
against  the  Money  Trust?"  asked  John  Fay  of  Ashland, 
Wis. 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  HI 

"Some  of  them  did  try  to,"  replied  COIN.  "The  man- 
ager of  the  Cohimbiis  (Ohio)  Buggy  Company  and  a 
few  others  saw  the  cause  of  falhng  prices,  and  tried  to 
direct  the  attention  of  others  to  it;  but  many  of  these 
same  men  were  stockholders  in  banks,  and  a  majority  of 
them  were  either  under  obligations  to  bankers  for  loans 
and  afraid  to  antagonize  the  views  of  the  bankers,  or  be- 
lieved that  bankers  knew  what  monetary  laws  were  best. 
Many  of  them  regarded  the  money  question  as  beyond 
their  comprehension.  So  they  looked  in  other  direc- 
tions as  to  how  they  could  better  themselves. 

The  Philosophy  of  It. 

"At  one  of  these  first  meetings  where  the  owners  of 
factories  had  come  together,  one  of  them  made  a  speech 
to  the  others  and  this  is  what  he  said:  Trices  on  what 
we  make,'  addressing  the  meeting,  'are  so  low  that  there 
is  no  profit  over  and  above  the  cost  of  production.  The 
average  price  of  all  those  things  which  the  people  eat 
and  wear  and  use  in  their  business  and  in  the  building 
of  their  houses,  is  now  about  one-half  what  it  was  some 
twenty-five  years  ago.'  This  was  true  a  year  or  two  since, 
before  Trusts  found  a  way  to  raise  prices,"  interpolated 
COIN,  and  then  went  on  in  the  language  of  the  other 
man :  "  Tn  proportion  to  population  the  people  are  not 
eating  or  wearing  or  otherwise  using  more  than  they  did 
then,'  said  the  man  to  the  others  at  the  meeting.  'And  it 
means  that  we  must  each,  at  present  prices,  sell  twice  as 
much  as  we  then  sold  to  make  the  same  profit  that  we 
made  twenty-five  years  ago.  Calico  is  now  worth  4  cents 
a  yard,  where  it  was  once  worth  8  cents  a  yard.  Cotton 
and  woolen  goods  of  all  kinds  have  declined  the  same. . 
Nails  and  other  kinds  of  hardware  have  also  fallen  50 
per   cent.     Wheat,    cotton    and    other    staple   products 


113  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

of  the  farmers  have  hkewise  fallen  50  per  cent.  So 
that  whether  you  are  manufacturers  of  clothing, 
ironware  or  manufacturers  of  flour  or  other  things 
you  find  that  where  one  of  you  formerly  did  a 
business  of  $300,000  each  year,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year 
had  a  dividend  of  6  per  cent  on  the  capital  invested,  you 
find  now  at  one-half  former  prices  that  you  must  do  a 
business  of  $600,000  to  make  the  same  profit. 

"  'We  cannot  all,'  continued  this  man  to  his  associates, 
'double  the  amount  of  our  business,  because  in  propor- 
tion to  population,  the  people  are  not  and  cannot  use 
twice  as  much  as  formerly.  What  it  means  is  that  as 
prices  shrink,  the  volume  of  business,  while  the  things 
handled  may  be  as  much  as  before,  must  shrink  in  dollars. 
And,  proportionate  to  increase  in  population,  there  is  only 
room  now  for  one-half  as  many  business  men  as  formerly. 
If  I  am  to  do  a  business  of  $600,000  each  year  as  against 
a  business  of  $300,000  twenty-five  years  ago,  it  means  that 
I  must  handle  twice  the  quantity  of  articles,  and  that  some 
one  else  must  go  out  of  business,  as  we  cannot  all  double 
our  business.  As  prices  shrink,  margins  are  cut  in  like 
manner.' 

"  'And,'  one  of  the  conference  asks  him,  'what  is  your 
remedy  ?' 

"He  replies:  'We  must  meet  this  new  situation  by 
reducing  expenses.  What  I  propose  is  that  we  consoli- 
date. Say  there  are  ten  of  us  engaged  in  one  class  of 
business,  barbed  wire,  for  instance.  Let  the  ten  factories 
agree  on  a  valuation  for  each,  and  take  stock  for  that 
amount  in  the  consolidated  company.  We  will  have  then 
one  company  instead  of  ten.  We  will  have  one  manager 
where  we  now  have  ten.  That  will  be  a  saving  of  ex- 
pense. Where  each  of  us  now  pay  a  salary  to  a  firm  of 
lawyers,  we  can  dispense  with  nine  firms  of  lawyers,  and 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  113 

one  firm  will  do  the  joint  business  for  a  salary  much  less 
than  the  total  of  the  ten  salaries  now  paid.  We  each  now 
have,  a  set  of  traveling  salesmen  covering  the  same  terri- 
tory. We  can  let  nine  sets  of  traveling  salesmen  go  and 
keep  only  one  set.  Where  we  each  now  run  an  advertise- 
ment in  the  papers,  only  one  will  be  necessary.  It  will 
be  another  saving.  In  like  manner  there  are  other  places 
where  the  expense  can  be  pruned  down.  The  combined 
concern  will  be  a  larger  buyer  of  raw  material  than  either 
one  now  is ;  that  will  enable  us  to  buy  cheaper.  In  this 
way  there  will  be  a  saving  of  expense  that  will  increase  the 
m.argin  of  profit  in  the  business. 

"  'Where  each  of  your  traveling  salesmen  are  now  com- 
peting to  get  orders,  with  one  set  of  traveling  salesmen 
on  the  road  there  will  be  no  competition  and  prices  can 
be  more  easily  maintained.  So  that  while  reducing  ex- 
penses at  one  end,  we  will  be  increasing  prices  at  the 
other  end.  You  will  each  of  you  in  this  way  receive  more 
profits  on  the  money  invested  than  you  will  to  go  on  as 
you  are  now  doing  business/ 

'This  advice  was  taken,"  continued  COIN,  "and  the 
formation  of  combines  was  begun.  At  first,  to  insure 
harmony  among  the  owners  of  the  combine,  the  stock  of 
each  was  put  in  the  name  of  a  trustee,  and  it  was  called  a 
Trust  company.'  In  that  way  these  combines  have  be- 
come known  as  TRUSTS. 

"As  prices  of  products  shrink,"  continued  the  little 
schoolmaster,  "civilization  must  shrink  and  shrivel  with  it. 
The  number  of  business  men  will  grow  less  and  the  wage- 
earners  will  increase  in  number.  It  has  proved  true  of 
Asia.  It  is  proving  true  in  Europe.  And  will  prove  true 
with  us  if  our  present  financial  system  is  continued.  Fall- 
ing prices  reduces  the  number  of  business  men— and  pro- 
portionately as  prices  fall,  business  men  must  go  to  the 


114 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


wall.  It  means  dear  money.  And  to  pay  taxes  and  debts, 
the  producers  and  business  men  find  ultimately  that  they 
cannot  sell  their  property  for  sufficient  money  to  pay  their 
taxes  and  debts.  The  continued  shrinkage  of  prices 
means  the  shrinkage  of  business  and,  ultimately,  the 
shrinkage  of  population,  as  was  the  case  at  the  coming  of 
the  Dark  Ages. 

"I  was  speaking  of  the  ten  men  who  had  formed  a 


THE  TEN  COEKS  HOLD  UP  THE  ONE  SINKER. 

'Barbed  Wire  Trust.'  On  their  second  meeting  to  report 
progress,  they  found  that  several  of  their  number  belonged 
to  the  Iron  Trust,  and  that  among  the  latter  was  a  Mr. 
Hanna.  It  developed  that  an  advance  in  the  price  of 
barbed  wire  had  been  brought  about  very  easily  since  the 
ten  firms  had  ceased  to  bid  against  each  other.  They  also 
found  as  a  result  of  the  higher  price  that  a  new  com- 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


lis 


pany  had  started  at  Omaha  that  was  offering  barbed  wire 
to  the  farmers  of  Nebraska  at  a  sHghtly  lower  rate  than 
the  Trust  was  quoting.  It  was  proposed  and  adopted  that 
the  Trust  should  quote  barbed  wire  in  Nebraska  slightly 
below  cost  until  the  Omaha  factory  was  either  broken  up 
or  consented  to  transfer  its  plant  to  the  Trust,  on  such 
conditions  as  the  Trust  would  grant.  This  had  the  result 
desired.  As  one  of  the  Trust  members  remarked,  'While 
lowering  the  price  in  Nebraska,  the  Trust  would  have  the 


THE  FARMER  AND  THE  BARBED  WIRE  TRUST. 


balance  of  the  United  States  to  itself,  and  the  latter  would 
act  as  corks  to  sustain  the  one  sinker  in  Nebraska,  tempo- 
rarily, while  the  factory  at  Omaha  was  forced  to  suspend.' 
"Another  factory  was  threatening  to  go  into  the  barbed 
wire  business  at  Pittsburg  by  reason  of  the  recent  advance. 
This  was  discussed.  Mr.  Hanna  said  that  when  the 
Pittsburg  factory  referred  to  came  to  buy  its  raw  material 


116  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

from  the  Iron  Trust  that  he  would  see  to  quotations  being 
made  it  on  the  raw  material  that  would  discourage  the 
idea  of  going  into  business ;  that  there  would  only  be  so 
much  used  and  he  preferred  that  all  the  barbed  wire  made 
should  be  sold  through  the  Barbed  Wire  Trust,  of  which 
he  was  a  member.  The  Trust  before  adjournment  de- 
cided to  advance  the  price  of  barbed  wire  to  four  cents. 
It  was  selling  at  two  cents  at  the  time  the  Trust  was 
formed,  had  been  advanced  to  three  cents,  and  was  now 
to  be  sold  at  four  cents  per  pound. 

"So  that  a  Trust,"  continued  the  little  statesman,  "that 
had  started  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  business  men 
against  the  fall  of  prices,  was  now  to  be  used  to  crush 
others,  and  to  advance  the  price,  where  unusual  profits 
might  be  made — thus  laying  tribute  upon  others.  This 
emphasizes  the  principle  that  when  a  class  of  men  have 
the  making  of  laws  or  prices,  they  use  it  to  their  selfish 
advantage  and  against  the  interests  of  the  common  wel- 
fare. The  farmer,  who  two  years  before  had  bought  the 
barbed  wire  with  which  to  make  his  fences  at  two  cents, 
was  now  required  to  pay  four  cents.  Whereas  the  aver- 
age price  of  his  crops  had  not  advanced  to  exceed  lo  per- 
cent as  the  effect  of  war  money  in  circulation,  and  he  was 
now  required  to  pay  an  advance  on  his  barbed  wire  of 
loo  per  cent  by  reason  of  the  price  fixed,  arbitrarily,  by 
the  Trusts. 

"The  coal  mines  of  the  United  States  are  now  owned 
by  such  a  limited  number  of  people,"  continued  the  little 
teacher,  "it  has  become  practical  for  them  to  come  to- 
gether and  form  a  Trust.  A  Trust  is  not  always  formed 
by  the  method  before  described.  They  can  accomplish 
the  same  object  by  an  agreement  to  maintain  prices.  The 
number  owning  all,  is  so  few,  a  'governing  committee' 
can  keep  a  watch  over  each,  and  usually  money  is  deposited 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


117 


by  each  to  be  forfeited  if  prices  are  not  made  as  the  'gov- 
erning committee'  directs.  In  this  way  the  Coal  Trust 
has  been  formed.  It  has  advanced  the  price  of  coal  25 
per  cent,  or  on  an  average  grade  of  coal  about  $2  per  ton. 
"There  was  once  a  large  number  of  small  dealers  in  coal 
in  this  city,  the  same  as  elsewhere  in  the  United  States, 
each  engaged  in  his  own  business  in  a  small  way  buying 
and  selling  coal  to  the  many  families  and  business  men. 


THE  COAL  TRUST. 


As  business  became  unprofitable,  the  number  of  coal  deal- 
ers were  reduced,  and  a  few  large  coal  dealers  have  taken 
the  place  of  the  many  smaller  ones ;  this  business,  like 
other  business,  thus  centering  in  the  hands  of  a  few.  The 
other  day  in  this  city  a  coal  dealer  who  had  about  100 
teams  with  which  to  deliver  coal  and  many  of  them  being 
idle,  offered  coal  at  25  cents  per  ton  less  than  that  at  which 
the  Trust  had  fixed  the  retail  price  for  the  same  coal.    As 


118  MONEY,  TR.USTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

soon  as  it  became  known  to  the  Trust  that  he  had  done 
so,  though  it  only  affected  him  by  reducing  from  75  cents 
to  50  cents  what  he  was  to  receive  for  hauHng  it,  he  was 
refused  coal  thereafter  and  his  wagons  went  to  the  coal- 
yard  in  vain  trying  to  get  coal  for  his  customers.  In 
this  manner,  by  the  action  of  a  Trust,  this  man,  with  100 
teams,  was  forced  to  either  suspend  business  or  comply 
with  the  demands  of  the  Trust.  And  men  and  women  and 
little  children  whose  means  are  moderate  are  thus  forced 
by  the  higher  price  of  coal,  to  unnaturally  economize  in  its 
use — and  many  of  them  to  do  without  it  entirely. 

"Trusts,  since  1896,  have  been  strengthened  and  per- 
fected in  nearly  all  lines  of  industry  handling  sugar,  salt, 
paper,  coal,  meat,  products  made  from  iron,  leather,  hmi- 
ber  and  many  other  things  used  to  eat  and  wear  and  in 
household  comfort.  Those  things  upon  which  Trusts 
have  not  been  formed  are  mainly  the  products  of  the' 
farmer.  Farming  is  carried  on  by  so  many  people  it  is 
impossible  for  them  to  come  together  and  agree  on  a  scale 
of  prices.  The  farmers  being  widely  scattered  over  the 
United  States  prevents  a  Trust  being  formed  so  as  to 
m.aintain  the  prices  of  their  products.  However,  if  there 
sliould  come  a  time  when  all  the  lands  have  passed  into 
the  hands  of  a  very  few  people,  they  could  come  together 
and  it  would  be  possible  for  them  to  fix  and  maintain 
prices  of  products.  While  much  lands  are  going  rapidly 
into  the  hands  of  the  money  lenders,  before  the  owners 
are  so  few  in  number  as  to  be  able  to  form  a  Trust  on 
farm,  products,  the  Republic  will  have  ceased  to  exist, 
and  we  will  have  crossed  the  dead  line — something 
which  we  are  not  going  to  do.  We  are  going  to  save  this 
Republic,  and  the  little  boys  and  girls  now  growing  up 
are  going  to  help  us  save  it. 

"The  farmers  are  thus  at  the  mercy  of  the  Trusts,"  he 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  119 

continued,  "that  will  lay  tribute  on  them,  making-  them 
pay  more  and  more  for  their  lumber,  coal,  salt,  barbed 
wire,  nails,  harvesting  machinery  and  the  many  things 
which  they  eat  and  wear  that  they  cannot  produce  them- 
selves. 

"The  farmers  in  all  true  Republics  are  classed  among 
the  most  honored  and  respected  citizens.  And,  under 
equal  rig-hts,  are  the  most  prosperous  of  citizens.  The 
manner  of  life  of  a  prosperous  farmer  and  family  develops 
mental  and  physical  growth,  making,  as  a  rule,  healthy, 
strong  and  fine  looking  young  men  and  healthy,  well- 
developed  and  beautiful  women.  They  are  most  consid- 
erate of  the  rights  of  others.  They  seldom  marry  from 
motives  of  vanity  or  selfishness,  a  practice,  where  it  oc- 
curs, that  almost  surely  leads  to  unhappiness  and  a  weak- 
ness in  offspring.  Their  courtships,  are,  almost  universally, 
from  motives  of  love,  thus  bringing  together  those  of  a 
natural  affinity,  and  resulting  in  strong,  healthy  offspring. 
The  country  mother  does  not  intrigue  to  bring  about  the 
marriage  of  her  sons  and  daughters,  but  while  watching 
them  with  great  motherly  interest,  leaves  them  to  the 
natural  selection  of  a  life  companion.  I  am  speaking  of 
a  prosperous  class  of  farmers,  such  as  exists  in  all  Repub- 
lics before  they  are  destroyed  by  wicked  and  evil  systems 
of  government.  It  is  from  the  ranks  of  such  farmers  as 
I  speak  of  that  our  real  statesmen  and  great  philosophers 
and  wisest  men  have  come ;  and  when  tribute  is  laid  on 
the  farmers,  such  as  the  Trusts  are  now  exacting  from 
them,  we  are  permitting  a  system  that  is  destroying  that 
class  of  people  that  is  the  foundation  of  a  true  civilization. 
When  you  reduce  them  to  serfs,  when  you  make  them 
tenants  and  dependants,  when  you  break  their  courage 
and  independence,  you  have  destroyed  that  class  that  in 


120  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

the  past  has  made  the  Rei^ubhc  strong,  and  when  gone 
the  RepubHc  goes  with  them ! 

"In  addition  to  laying  tribute  on  the  farmers,  who  are 
wholly  at  their  mercy,  the  Trusts  are  likewise  planning 
to  lay  tribute  on  all  classes  of  consumers.  The  wage- 
earner  may,  during  a  period  of  war  and  an  issue  of  bor- 
rowed money,  receive  a  slight  advance  in  wages,  but  the 
advance  in  price  by  the  Trusts  of  those  things  the  wage- 
earner  consumes  will  more  than  offset  the  slight  advance 
in  his  wages. 

"The  wholesale  dealer  and  likewise  the  retail  dealer  are 
now  having  their  prices  fixed  for  them  on  those  things 
they  sell,  by  the  Trusts.  For  instance,  the  Tobacco  Trust 
has  raised  the  price  of  tobacco,  and  notifies  the  wholesale 
dealer  wdiat  price  he  shall  charge  when  reselling  it  to  the 
retail  dealer.  If  the  wholesale  dealer  treats  such  dicta- 
tion as  an  interference  with  his  business  and  refuses  to 
allow  the  Trust  to  thus  run  his  business,  the  Trust  refuses 
to  sell  him  any  tobacco.  As  the  Trust  owns  all  of  the 
tobacco  manufactories,  the  merchant  cannot  get  any  else- 
where. If  he  does  not  handle  it  he  is  deprived  of  a  natural 
profit,  if  exclusively  engaged  in  that  business  he  must 
comply  with  the  demand  of  the  Trust  or  quit,  and  if  in  a 
general  grocery  trade,  as  are  most  wholesale  dealers — 
if  tobacco  is  not  handled — the  retail  dealers  are  apt  to  buy 
groceries  from  another  house  where  they  can  buy  to- 
bacco. 

"We  have  a  class  of  business  men  known  as  traveling 
salesmen.  This  class  is  rapidly  disappearing  under  the 
management  of  Trusts.  As  before  explained,  each  con- 
solidation dispenses  with  a  large  number  of  these  men  who 
have  been  previously  employed,  and  with  the  contraction 
of  opportunities  they  find  no  other  profitable  employment 
in  which  to  engage.     These  men,  traveling  salesmen,. 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


121 


were  a  great  saving  to  the  retail  merchants  to  whom  they 
sold  merchandise.  They  saved  the  retail  merchant  the 
expense  and  loss  of  time  in  traveling  to  the  cities  where 
the  wholesale  houses  are  located.  A  traveling  salesman 
traveling  from  this  city  a  distance  of  500  miles,  will  call 
on  more  than  100  merchants,  and  save  them  all  the  ex- 
pense and  loss  of  time  in  coming  here  to  buy  their  goods. 
It  is  the  expense  of  one  man  against  the  expense  of  one 


THE  TRAVELING  SALESMAN. 


hundred  men ;  and  when  the  expense  of  the  one  man  is 
divided  between  the  one  hundred  that  he  sells,  it  is  a  sav- 
ing and  a  convenience.  The  traveling  salesman  visits 
the  merchant  and  displays  on  the  merchant's  counter  the 
samples  of  what  his  house  has  for  sale,  affording  every 
convenience  for  the  buyer  to  select  and  order  what  he 
wants.     It  brings  in  competition,  for  the  benefit  of  the 


122  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

retail  merchant  and  the  consumer,  the  houses  of  Chicago, 
St.  Louis,  New  York  and  other  cities.  The  travehng 
salesman  is  thus  an  advantage  and  saving. 

"The  traveling  salesmen  are  among  our  best  citizens. 
We  rarely  see  one  of  them  who  is  not  bright,  broad- 
minded,  manly  and  generous.  They  meet  and  talk  with 
all  classes  of  people  and  learn  much  philosophy  and  wis- 
dom from  doing  so.  This  is  one  of  the  things  that  assists 
in  making  them  wise  men.  They  are  being  ruined  and 
driven  from  business  by  the  Trusts.  When  ten  firms  con- 
solidate and  one  set  of  traveling  men  take  the  place  of 
ten,  it  is  not  a  saving  of  that  many  salaries,  to  any  one,  but 
the  Trust.  The  Trust  does  not  give  the  merchants  or 
consumers  the  benefit  of  it.  The  Trust  reduces  expenses 
by  that  much.  And  having  thus  destroyed  competition 
next  raises  the  prices  on  what  it  is  selling. 

"As  the  Trusts  are  formed,  and  get  a  firm  footing,  they 
are  making  a  reduction  in  the  number  of  people  employed 
wherever  it  is  possible ;  and  it  is  possible  in  many  ways 
when  competition  is  destroyed.  And  having  destroyed 
competition  they  then  advance  prices." 

A  j\Ir.  Depew  of  Xew  York  was  in  the  audience,  who 
was  prominent  as  a  railway  attorney  and  politician.  He 
interrupted  COIN  to  ask  this  question: 

"One  of  your  main  reasons  for  opposing  the  present 
financial  system  is  that  it  has  lowered  prices,  and  now 
you  are  finding  fault  with  Trusts  for  raising  prices. 
Wherein  are  your  two  statements  consistent?" 

"With  free  competition,"  replied  the  little  statesman, 
"and  an  opportunity  for  the  people  to  engage  in  all  kinds 
of  business,  when  prices  advance  by  reason  of  more 
money  going  into  circulation,  the  advance  is  general — 
extending  to  all  classes  of  property.  The  products  of  the 
farmer  and  of  those  who  are  victims  under  the  Trust 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  133 

system  all  rise  in  price  along  with  other  property.  This 
puts  money  in  the  hands  of  the  people.  The  farmer  is 
then  prosperous  and  can  buy  what  he  needs.  The  cir- 
culation of  the  money  is  general  and  business  multiplies. 
The  wage-earners  are  all  employed  and  wages  generally 
advance.  j\Iore  traveling  salesmen  are  employed.  All 
these  things  happen  where  there  is  a  general  advance. 
Why?  Because  with  a  general  rise  in  prices  from  in- 
creased quantity  of  money  in  circulation,  the  money  re- 
ceived therefrom,  goes  into  the  hands  of  the  people.  It 
gratifies  the  many  wants  and  otherwise  sets  in  motion 
a  thousand  little  industries  among  the  plain  people  where 
each  may  be  his  own  employer. 

"On  the  other  hand,"  he  continued,  "when  the  Trusts 
advance  prices,  only  those  things  advance,  in  which  the 
Trusts  are  interested.  They  are  the  only  ones  benefited — 
already  rich,  more  riches  are  added  to  that  which  they 
have.  Those  who  are  most  in  need  of  having  their  condi- 
tion improved  are  not  benefited.  On  the  contrary,  they 
are  injured.  The  wage-earner,  seeing  his  employer — the 
Trust — making  money,  may  with  his  associates  get  an 
advance  in  wages  by  a  strike  that  forces  a  more  even 
division.  But  this  proves  only  a  seeming  advantage  to 
the  wage-earner.  The  Trust  factories  are  soon  found 
to  turn  out  more  than  the  demand  consumes.  Then  a 
shut-down  is  ordered  of  one  or  more  or  all  of  the  fac- 
tories for  a  time,  and  the  wage-earner  in  the  end,  by  loss 
of  time,  receives  less  wages  in  the  aggregate.  The  farmer 
finds  that  the  market  for  his  products  ultimately  is  limited 
to  the  Trusts,  the  Elevator  Trust,  the  Cotton  Mill  Trust, 
or  other  Trust  that  fixes  a  price  for  him  on  his  products. 
And  he  finds  that  he  is  bitten  on  his  way  to  market  by  the 
Railroad  Trust.  Thus  the  rise  in  prices  of  Trust  articles 
has  done  him  no  good,  but  much  harm.    It  has  crushed 


124 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


him.  This  in  a  general  way  is  the  difference  between  a 
general  advance  in  prices,  which  is  healthy,  and  an  ad- 
vance in  prices  on  the  products  of  the  Trusts.  The  latter 
presents  a  situation  like  a  house  that  has  fallen.  The 
rafters  and  some  of  the  timbers  may  still  be  in  place,  but 
the  body  of  the  house  is  flat  on  the  ground  in  ruins." 

Mr.  Depew  took  his  seat  looking  as  if  something  had 
hit  him. 

"While  the  formation  of  Trusts,"  continued  the  little 
fellow,   "is   attributable   to  the   fall  of   prices   resulting 


PRESENTS  A  SITUATION  LIKE  A  HOUSE  THAT  HAS  FALLEN. 


from  a  confused  financial  system,  they  are  increasing  in 
growth  from  other  reasons.  As  a  cancer  that  originated 
from  microbes  may  be  hastened  in  its  growth  by  impure 
blood,  so  have  Trusts  been  enlarged  from  causes  other 
than  that  which  originated  them. 
"These  are  several  in  number.    One  is  railway  discrim- 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


125 


inations.  In  all  the  big  Trusts  stockholders  will  be  found 
who  are  also  stockholders  in  railroads.  A  system  of  re- 
bates is  often  given  by  the  railroad  companies  to  the 
Trusts  on  what  is  transported  for  the  Trusts  over  the 
railroads.  Thus  a  coal  trust  that 
puts  i,ooo  bushels  of  coal  a  day 
into  a  city  may  receive  50  cents  a 
ton  rebate,  or  $500  a  day.  This 
assists  the  Coal  Trust  and  gives  it 
an  additional  advantage  when  it 
sees  fit  to  put  down  the  price  of 
coal  to  destroy  a  new  coal  com- 
pany that  may  be  started  and  that 
refuses  to  join  the  Trust,  and  that 
does  not  get  a  rebate  from  the 
railroads.  It  is  being  done  in  the 
case  of  the  OIL  Trust,  the  IRON 
Trust,  the  COAL  Trust  and  many 
of  the  others," 

"Does  not  the  Inter-State  transportation  law  of  Con- 
gress prevent  this?"  asked  Mr.  F.  Koelling  of  Chicago. 

"It  provides  against  it,"  was  the  reply,  "but  does  not 
prevent  it.  So  long  as  politicians,  many  of  whom  are 
themselves  stockholders  in  Trusts,  are  in  charge  of  the 
government  the  Trusts  and  the  politicians  will  laugh  at 
the  people.  Laws  to  regulate  Trusts  have  only  served  to 
multiply  the  army  of  office-holders  who  are  drawing  sal- 
aries from  the  tax-payers,  and  add  to  the  burdens  of  the 
people  instead  of  lessening  the  evil.  All  laws  attempting 
to  regulate  Trusts  condone  an  evil  and  permit  it  to 
remain. 

"Another  source  of  nourishment  to  Trusts,"  continued 
the  little  schoolmaster,  "is  our  imperfect  patent  laws, 
^lost  of  the  articles  produced  by  Trusts  are  made  by  the 


MR.  DEPEW   TAKES  HIS 
SEAT. 


12G  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IiMPERIALISM. 

use  of  improved  machinery,  tliat  lowers  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction. Large  combinations  of  capital  can  more  easily 
than  can  the  plain  people  buy  these  patents,  and  thus 
owning  them,  in  many  cases,  it  is  difficult,  were  there  no 
other  reason,  for  new  plants  to  start  and  compete  with 
the  Trusts.  They  watch  the  new  patents,  and  where  one 
is  an  improvement  on  those  in  use  they  buy  the  new 
patent  and  use  it,  or  do  not  use  it.  Having  secured  the 
sole  right  to  use  it,  no  one  else  can  do  so.  Formerly, 
before  the  property  of  the  many  had  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  few,  the  right  to  use  a  patent  was  usually 
sold  by  counties,  and  some  one  in  each  county  had  the 
right  to  use  it,  but  now  a  Trust  will  buy  the  exclusive 
right  to  the  patent  for  the  whole  United  States.  Thus 
Trusts  that  originated  through  a  general  fall  of  prices, 
due  to  the  monopoly  of  money,  now  have  the  opportunity 
to  seize  upon  other  means  for  increasing  their  growth. 

THE    NEWSPAPER   TRUST. 

"A  Trust  that  threatens  us  in  a  more  vital  spot,  prob- 
ably, than  others,"  he  continued,  "is  the  Newspaper 
Trust.  In  the  fall  of  prices,  with  its  influence  on  all 
business,  the  country  newspapers  have  found  the  expense 
too  much,  as  a  rule,  to  continue  publication  if  all  the  type 
is  required  to  be  set  in  the  office  of  the  paper.  This  has 
led  to  the  establishment  of  a  few  large  printing  plants 
that  reduce  the  expense  and  furnish  the  country  editor 
each  week  his  paper,  with  one  side  of  it  printed.  The 
country  editor  has  the  type  set  in  his  office  for  the  other 
half  of  the  paper — the  half  that  contains  the  editorials 
and  the  local  news — and  then  goes  to  press  with  his 
paper  at  less  expense  than  if  he  set  all  the  type  in  his 
office. 

"The  central  houses  that  furnish  the  paper  with  one 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  127 

side  printed  are  called  'ready  print  houses.'  The  country 
editor,  as  a  rule,  is  now  compelled  to  thus  print  his  paper, 
because  of  his  lessened  patronage,  due  to  the  less  pros- 
perous condition  of  the  farmers  and  business  men  of  the 
villages,  who  formerly  advertised  with  him,  and  who  are 
now  being  gradually  replaced  by  Trusts  in  the  form  of 
'department  stores'  and  otherwise. 

"The  large  'ready  print  houses'  being  few  in  number, 
all  in  the  United  States  being  owned  by  not  to  exceed 
some  seven  or  eight  firms,  they  have  come  together,  the 
larger  ones  have,  and  entered  into  an  agreement  to  main- 
tain prices.  So,  if  a  country  editor  tries  to  shift  from  one 
to  the  other  of  these  plants,  when  prices  are  raised  on  him, 
he  is  quoted  at  each  place  the  same  price.  These  'ready 
print  houses'  also  furnish  what  is  called  'plate  matter,' 
which  is  moulded  from  impressions  on  type  that  can 
be  used,  a  column,  more  or  less,  at  a  time,  in  papers, 
where  the  type  is  mainly  set  in  the  office  of  the  paper,  as  is 
often  done  in  city  papers.  An  agreed  price  is  also  main- 
tained by  the  'ready  print  houses'  that  are  in  the  Trust, 
on  the  plate  matter. 

"The  side  of  the  country  paper  printed  by  the  'ready 
print  house'  contains  all  the  general  news.  A  long  list 
of  Republican  party  papers  are  thus  printed  by  a  'ready 
print  house'  and  by  the  same  house  is  printed  a  similar 
list  of  Democratic  and  a  list  of  Populist  papers,  and  it 
tries  to  p'ease  them  all  by  printing  that  class  of  news  in 
each  that  will  likely  interest  the  readers  of  each  class, 
respectively.  This  is  the  way  at  present,  the  country 
newspapers  are,  as  a  rule,  printed. 

"In  the  crusade  that  is  about  to  be  made  to  save  this 
people  from  impending  slavery,  we  should  rely  mainly 
on  the  country  press.  The  news  columns  on  one  side 
of  a  country  paper  should  reflect  the  facts  on  which  the 


128 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


editorials  are  based,  printed  on  the  other  side  of  the  paper. 
Our  fight  must  be  to  dissolve  all  combinations  in  restraint 
of  trade,  and,  to  show  that  if  successful,  our  remedy- 
leads  to  such  a  prosperous  condition  of  the  farmers  and 
business  men  generally  that  the  country  editor  will  again 
be  independent,  able  to  set  his  own  type,  and  print  a 
profitable  and  more  progressive  paper.  This  would  either 
dissolve  the  business  of  the  'ready  print  houses'  or  make 


THE  COUNTRY  EDITOR. 


the  country  editor  an  independent  competitor  as  to  print- 
ing his  own  paper.  It  would  break  up  the  Trust  agree- 
ment that  now  exists  between  the  'ready  print  houses.' 

"If,  in  the  struggle  on  which  the  people  are  now  enter- 
ing to  dissolve  Trusts,  the  Newspaper  Trust  openly  or 
secret!}',  takes  sides  with  the  political  party  that  cham- 
pions Trusts,  they  can  injure  our  cause  by  printing  mat- 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  129 

ter  in  papers  advocating  our  cause  that  one  friendly  to 
our  cause  would  not  print,  and  omitting  to  print  those 
things  that  should  be  printed.  We  are  now  nearing  the 
dead  line,  and  the  American  people  must  act  quickly  and 
vigorously,  if  they  would  not  be  slaves,  and  should  the 
Newspaper  Trust  openly  or  secretly  antagonize  our  cause, 
an  organization  of  the  people  must  instantly  put  'ready 
print  houses'  in  operation  to  be  conducted  till  our  edi- 
tors and  people  are  emancipated  from  industrial  slavery. 
The  country  editors  are  among  the  most  patriotic  of 
any  class  of  people.  As  a  rule  they  are  industrious,  self- 
sacrificing,  and  intelligently  devoted  to  the  principles  of 
free  government.  They  abhor  being  a  dependent  citizen, 
would  be  independent  citizens  and  hope  to  make  this  a 
nation  of  independent  citizens.  We  should  encourage 
and  aid  them  and  watch  zealously  any  point  of  attack 
where  we  are  in  danger  of  losing  their  assistance.  The 
country  editor  should  feel  that  the  responsibility  is  his ! 
He  should  be  an  educator  and  fearlessly  but  charitably 
defend  the  heritage  of  liberty." 

Mr.  Warwick  Saunders  of  Omaha  w^as  in  the  audience 
and  he  was  much  pleased  at  what  COIN  had  said.  Mr. 
Saunders  is  manager  for  the  Country  Publishing  Company 
of  Omaha,  that  prints  one  side  of  about  seventy-five 
Democratic  and  Populist  weekly  papers,  and  his  firm  is 
not  in  the  "Ready  Print"  Trust.  He  is  a  sincere  advocate 
of  all  that  the  little  statesman  had  said,  since  the  first  day 
of  the  School.  The  Trust  has  cut  the  prices  in  his  terri- 
tory, but  the  country  editors  for  whom  Mr.  Saunders  is 
printing  one  side  of  their  papers,  have  loyally  stood  by 
him,  well  knowing  that  if  the  Trust  succeeded  in  ousting 
him,  that  prices  for  "ready  prints"  would  be  advanced 
higher  than  ever  before. 


130  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

Mr.  Saunders  now  rose  and  asked  a  question  that 
turned  the  subject. 

"I  would  Hke  to  have  you  state,"  he  said,  "when  the 
first  Trust  was  formed." 

"In  1873,"  repHed  the  little  teacher,  "when  silver  was 
struck  down  as  a  competitor  with  gold.  The  Money  Trust 
began  forming  soon  after  the  war  to  control  the  volume 
and  issue  of  money,  the  same  as  Industrial  Trusts  have 
since  sought  to  control  the  products  in  which  they  deal. 
The  Money  Trust  may  be  said  to  have  succeeded  and 
fastened  itself  upon  the  country  in  1873.  With  each 
year  since  then  the  bankers  have  strengthened  their  or- 
ganization. Of  the  12,804  banks  in  the  United  States, 
which  means  some  300,000  directors  and  stockholders, 
nine-tenths  of  them  belong  to  an  organization  that  m.eets 
annually,  that  is  influencing  and  shaping  financial  legis- 
lation. This  organization  is  the  principal  ally  of  the  po- 
litical party  that  champions  the  interests  of  the  priviliged 
classes.  In  each  village  or  town  where  there  is  a  bank, 
except  in  the  instance  of  a  very  few  bankers,  who  have 
unselfishly  taken  up  our  cause,  the  local  bank  or  banks 
are  constantly  bringing  influence  to  bear  on  the  business 
men,  who  are  borrowers  of  the  banks,  to  have  these  busi- 
ness men  support  the  political  party  that  the  banks 
favor." 

"What  is  the  outcome  if  class  legislation  and  Trusts 
continue  unchecked?"  asked  Mr.  J.  F.  Glasgow  of  Indi- 
ana. 

"The  Financial  Trust  will  own  all  the  other  Trusts," 
replied  COIN.  "After  the  present  temporary  cause  for 
the  increased  money  in  circulation  has  passed,  the  con- 
suming power  of  the  people  will  diminish.  When  war 
and  famine  money  have  all  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
money  lenders  in  payment  of  interest,  as  it  will,  the  situa- 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


131 


tion  will  be  intensified.  Consumption  of  Trust  articles 
will  decrease,  and  Industrial  Trusts  will  begin  to  com- 
pete with  each  other  by  each  going  into  the  other's  busi- 
ness. This  will  result  in  debts,  and  bonds  and  mortgages 
on  Industrial  Trusts,  till  their  property  passes  into  the 
hands  of  the  money  trust. 

'T  would  like  to  know,"  said  W.J.  Corner  of  Davenport, 

AS  IT  IS  NOW. 


17  ■"^^' 


AS  IT  WILL  BE. 


Iowa,  "to  what  extent  the  people  are  small  stockholders  in 
Trusts  ?" 

"In  organizing  Trusts,"  was  the  reply,  "the  main  pro- 
moters, frequently,  seek  to  enlarge  their  capital  by  getting 
small  sums  of  money  from  numerous  people.  They  do 
this  by  enticing  them  to  buy  the  stock  as  a  speculation. 


132  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

The  promoters  then  bear  the  stock  on  the  stock  market 
and  wipe  out  the  holdings  of  these  numerous  small  stock- 
holders, which  gives  the  few  who  are  in  charge  the  own- 
ership of  all.  In  this  way,  at  times,"  concluded  the  little 
teacher,  "numerous  people  become  temporarily  interested 
in  Trusts." 

Mr.  Aaron  F.  Hatch,  an  attorney  representing  many 
Trusts,  rose  and  put  this  question : 

"Say,  a  department  store  brings  under  one  roof,  every 
line  of  business,  at  a  saving  of  $10,000  each  year,  in  rents, 
and  a  further  saving  in  the  way  of  management  and  in 
buying,  and  in  many  other  ways,  thus  reducing  the  cost 
of  everything  to  the  consumer.  Why  is  it  not  an  advant- 
age to  all  the  people?" 

"The  reply  is  this,"  said  the  little  boy:  "It  may,  in 
the  end,  result  in  higher  prices  for  the  Trust  articles,  for 
a  department  store  is  a  Trust.  But  admit  that  it-will  not 
— what  aids  the  general  welfare  is  a  system  that  tends 
to  an  equal  distribution  of  wealth.  The  department  store 
having  driven  all  the  shoe  merchants,  the  hat  stores,  the 
groceries,  the  dry  goods  men,  the  dealers  in  meats,  and 
others  who  dealt  in  separate  lines,  out  of  business,  the 
profits,  if  any,  are  centered  in  a  few  and  not  distributed 
among  the  many.  It  is  not  the  price  we  pay  for  the  hat 
we  wear,  or  the  shoes  or  clothes  we  wear,  so  much  as 
what  price  do  we  receive  for  those  things  we  sell  and 
our  services.  If  under  an  equitable  system,  we  receive 
more  for  those  things  for  which  we  are  paid  money,  than 
under  the  present  system,  we  are  able  to  buy;  whereas, 
now,  receiving  less  ourselves,  we  may  not  be  able  to 
buy  those  things  we  need.  The  people  who  work  in  fac- 
tories that  produce  cotton  fabrics  at  2  and  3  cents  a  yard, 
will  not  be  able  to  buy  many  comforts  or  necessities  for 
themselves,  no  matter  how  cheap  they  may  be.    And  those 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  133 

who  raise  the  cotton,  under  such  a  system,  are  perpetu- 
ally doomed  to  be  serfs. 

"With  prices  higher,  by  reason  of  plenty  of  money  in 
circulation,  a  general  rise  of  prices,  not  of  Trust  articles, 
but  of  everything,  and  the  people  prosperous,  a  man  will 
walk  into  a  hat  store  or  a  shoe  store  to  buy  a  hat  or  a 
pair  of  shoes,  in  preference  to  going  to  a  department 
store.  Why?  Because  there  he  meets  the  proprietor,  a 
man  who  is  making  a  specialty  of  hats,  or  of  shoes,  as 
the  case  may  be,  a  man  who  studies  the  shapes  of  men's 
heads  or  feet,  a  man  who  feels  an  acquaintance  and 
respect  for  his  customers  and  neighbors;  who  from  self- 
interest  and  stimulated  by  competition,  will  try  to  please. 
The  customer  gets  something  better — a  better  fit — than 
if  he  had  gone  to  a  department  store,  and  he  is  willing 
to  pay  a  better  price,  for  he  is  prosperous  and  able  to  do 
so.  On  the  other  hand,  as  now,  the  pinching  times  tend 
to  drive  people  to  the  department  stores,  where  they 
compromise  their  desires  and  take  that  which  will  answer 
their  needs  at  the  lowest  price  obtainable. 

"And,  a  more  serious  thing  than  any  that  has  been 
mentioned,"  continued  the  little  fellow,  "is  this :  The  men 
who  formerly  owned  the  hat  stores,  the  shoe  stores  and 
other  lines  were  men  engaged  in  their  own  business. 
They  were  proprietors.  They  could  put  on  their  hats  and 
walk  out  of  their  place  of  business  at  any  time  in  the 
day,  could  be  public  spirited  and  meet  their  fellow-cit- 
izens in  town  meetings  at  any  hour;  could  go  home  an 
hour  earlier  than  usual  in  the  evening  and  play  with 
their  children  till  the  evening  meal  was  ready;  and  in 
other  respects  be  independent  cithcns.  But  not  so  now. 
These  men  are  being  driven  out  of  business  by  the  Mer- 
cantile Trusts,  that  bring  everything  under  one  roof, 
and  they  are  seeking  employment  at  the  different  counters 


134 


MONEY,  TRUSTS.  IMPERIALISM. 


in  the  department  stores.  Men  who  once  owned  a  busi- 
ness of  their  own,  may  now  be  found  behind  the  coun- 
ters in  department  stores.  When  they  come  in,  in  the 
morning,  they  are  told  to  hang  their  hats  on  a  row  of 
pegs  provided  for  that  purpose,  and  when  they  go  out,  to 
walk  easy  and  make  no  noise.  They  cannot  leave  till 
quitting  time  comes.  They  are  no  longer  independent 
citizens,  such  as  the  citizenship  of  a  Republic  should  be 
composed  of,  but  dependants,  without  time  for  and  a  les- 


A  DEPARTMENT  STORE. 


sening  inclination  to  be  public  spirited.  A  nation  of 
dependants  soon  means  a  nation  of  slaves,  unless  they 
throw  off  the  system  that  is  enslaving  them!" 

Mr.  Hatch  is  a  man  who  would  have  answered  COIN, 
if  he  could  have  seen  how  to  do  so,  but  none  occurring  to 
him,  he  sat  down. 

COIN  continued :    "The  remedy  for  Trusts  is  to  first 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


135 


bring  prosperity  by  establishing  a  sound,  healthy  finan- 
cial system.  A  prosperity  that  will  bring  higher  prices 
for  products  and  services,  to  all,  to  the  farmers,  to  the 

wage-earners,  to  the  lawyers, 
doctors,  dentists,  ministers — to 
all — and  set  going  anew  numer- 
ous small  businesses,  whose 
competition  will  break  down  the 
Trusts.  A  financial  system  in 
the  interest  of  mankind.  The 
remedy  is  to  first  do  this,  and 
kill  off  the  Financial  Trust  that 
has  bred  and  born  and  caused 
all  the  other  Trusts.  The 
Money  Trust  is  interested  in  in- 
creasing the  price  of  money — its 
product.  It  wants  the  money 
to  buy  more  and  more  of  your 
property.  It  has  made  neces- 
sary the  other  Trusts.  Those 
who  formed  the  Industrial 
Trusts  were  forced  to  do  so  by 
falling  prices.  So  long  as  the 
first  continues,  the  latter  will 
continue  to  exist.  It  is  no  rem- 
edy to  'regulate'  trusts,  their 
existence  is  wrong.  The  nation 
must  be  brought  back  to  a  con- 
dition of  independent  citizen- 
ship. The  first  thing  to  do  is 
to  abolish  the  Financial  Truust.  So  long  as  the  blood  of 
civilization  is  corrupted,  and  drained  from  the  arteries 
and  veins  of  commerce  the  limbs  will  be  paralyzed  and 
sores  will  break  out  on  the  body  politic. 


DEPARTMENT      STORE. 

Questions  Applicant  for  po- 
sition must  answer  in  a  de- 
partment store  in  Chicago: 

Give  list  of  names  and  ad- 
dresses of  all  former  em- 
ployers, in  the  order  in 
which  you  were  employed 
by  them,  beginning  with  the 
last  employer. 

What  is  your  age?  Single 
or  married?  Do  you  live 
with    relatives? 

Do  you  keep  house  and 
what  rent  do  you  pay? 
W^hat  do  you  pay  for  your 
room  and  board? 

Are  your  parents  living? 
If  so,  what  is  their  address? 

If  your  father  is  living, 
what  is  his  occupation  or 
business  and  weekly  earn- 
ings? 

What  means  of  support 
have  you  other  than  your 
salary  ? 

Have  you  brothers  or  sis- 
ters, and  if  so  how  much 
do  they  contribute  to  the 
support  of  the  family? 

Give  names  and  occupa- 
tions of  your  brothers  and 
sisters,   if  you  have  any? 

If  you  give  all  your  salary 
to  your  parents,  state  what 
they  allow  you  for  car  fare 
and   incidental  expenses. 

I  hereby  affirm  that  the 
above  is  a  true  and  accurate 
account  of  my  past  record. 
I  have  never  worked  for 
anyone  whose  name  does 
not  appear  in  this  state- 
ment. 

Signed 


136  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

"Then,"  he  continued,  "you  can  treat  the  sores  success- 
fully. The  tendency  will  be  for  them  to  disappear.  Those 
things  can  be  corrected,  on  which  Industrial  Trusts  may 
continue  to  feed  for  a  time.  The  g-overnment  can  take 
charge  of  all  the  railways  and  change  the  patent  laws,  to 
pay  a  premium  on  useful  patents,  throwing  them  open  to 
general  use  by  any  citizen.  The  government  has  a  right 
to  condemn  anything,  for  the  public  good,  by  paying  com- 
pensation. The  government  should  do  all  things  affirma- 
tive and  negative  that  will  secure  equal  rights  to  all  and 
special  privileges  to  none.  The  men  in  the  Industrial 
Trusts  should  assist  in  destroying  the  Financial  Trust, 
and  bankers  who  would  save  their  progeny  and  who 
would  assist  in  saving  civilization  should  rise  above  petty 
selfishness  and  help  us  in  this  great  struggle  for  man- 
kind !  If  not,  then  let  them  answ^er  to  God !  The  people 
must  act  and  act  quickly !"  . 

This  closed  the  School  for  the  day.  The  interest  that 
had  been  manifested  was  intense  and  for  more  than  an 
hour  groups  of  persons  remained  in  the  hall  in  conversa- 
tion on  the  topic  that  had  been  discussed. 

END  OF  FIFTH  LESSON 


CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Sixth  Day. 

The  fifth  day's  session  of  the  School  in  the  news  col- 
umns of  the  Chicago  papers  appeared  without  editorial 
comment,  except  in  the  Chronicle,  which,  on  the  whole, 
approved  of  what  had  been  said.  The  other  papers  were 
editorially  silent. 

Trusts  were  not  as  yet  an  issue  between  the  two  existing 
political  parties.  It  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that  the 
"Democratic  party"  would  declare  strongly  against  them ; 
but  it  was  not  so  certain  as  to  what  the  "Republican 
party"  would  do.  And  in  the  meantime  the  other  four 
morning  daily  papers  that  w-ere  certain  to  support  the 
"Republican  party"  ticket  in  1900  were  circumspect  or 
silent.  They  were  insistent  and  bitter  in  opposing  all  re- 
formers or  any  change  in  existing  conditions ;  but  were 
not  yet  ready  editorially  to  claim  advantages  for  the 
existence  of  Trusts,  though  opening  their  columns  for 
others  to  do  so. 

In  this  respect  these  same  newspapers  were  following 
very  much  the  course  they  had  pursued  on  the  gold  stand- 
ard and  other  laws  that  had  perfected  the  Money  Trust. 
At  first  they  had  opposed  the  gold  standard  and  clamored 
for  the  remonetization  of  silver.  Between  '76  and  '80,  the 
Tribune  had  done  so  vigorously,  and  the  Inter  Ocean  had 
continued  its  opposition  to  the  gold  standard  as  late  as 
1895.  But  gradually  the  money  power  had  chloroformed 
the  patriotism  of  the  owners  of  these  papers  and  dead- 
ened their  sensibilities  to  the  blow  that  was  about  to  be 
struck.     And  now  the  same  process  was  going  on  that 

137 


I<i6  AlONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

would  ultimately,  as  was  plainly  to  be  observed,  bring 
thern  all  around  to  the  advocacy  of  Trusts  as  they  had 
become  the  insistent  advocates  of  the  gold  standard.  But 
for  the  present  the  transformation  was  only  in  process  of 
accomplishment. 

Intuition  prompted  the  proprietors  of  these  papers  and 
also  the  power  for  evil  behind  them,  that,  to  oppress  the 
people  and  to  have  the  latter  assist  in  putting  the  yoke  of 
despotism  on  their  own  necks,  they  must  be  dealt  with 
diplomatically.  So,  in  the  meantime,  ridicule  and  scorn  of 
all  reformers  would  be  their  policy.  They  were  now 
standing  boldly  by  the  Money  Trust  and  were  preparing 
with  all  their  influence  to  protect  Trusts  of  all  kinds. 
They  would  advocate  regulating  them,  as  they  had 
favored  each  piece  of  patchwork  brought  forward  by  the 
bankers  as  the  timbers  in  the  Republic  cracked  and 
groaned  under  the  influence  of  an  erroneous  monetary 
system. 

Would  one  of  them  break  loose  from  its  environments 
and  strike  in  defense  of  mankind  ?  This  was  the  hope  of 
many.  The  circulation  of  the  Chicago  morning  dailies — 
five  of  them — sweeps  the  great  central  states,  and  not  one 
of  them  opposes  the  money  power.  The  concentration  of 
wealth  in  the  hands  of  the  few  has  carried  with 
it  all  the  great  morning  daily  papers  in  that  city — that 
are  now  either  muzzled  or  turned  against  the  people  upon 
whom  tribute  is  being  laid.  Should  one  of  them  turn  to 
the  cause  of  liberty,  it  would  be  because  a  philanthropic 
spirit  had  won  the  mastery  in  the  breast  of  its,  proprietor 
over  the  destructive  spirit  of  Evil. 

The  historian  will  be  asked  the  question,  Why  was  not 
a  newspaper  started  in  Chicago  to  advocate  the  cause  of 
intelligent  human  liberty?  The  answer  to  the  question 
is,  That  the  present  Chicago  newspapers  own  for  that  city 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  139 

the  exclusive  right  to  the  ne'vvs  service  of  the  Associated 
Press  that  receives  daily  over  the  wires  of  the  telegraph 
companies  the  news  of  the  world.  The  existing  papers 
will  not  divide  that  privilege  with  a  new  daily  paper. 
And  no  newspaper,  no  matter  how  just  the  cause  it  advo- 
cates, can  succeed  that  does  not  lay  the  news  before  its 
readers  as  fully  as  do  the  other  papers. 

Those  now  organizing  for  the  supreme  struggle  of 
mankind  will  have  to,  in  part,  rely  upon  some  system  of 
general  education  that  is  not  dependent  upon  the  metro- 
politan newspapers.  It  was  at  a  time  like  this,  and  in  an 
emergency  such  as  described,  that  the  little  character 
whose  history  this  book  relates,  was  givipg  his  School  in 
Chicago. 

On  the  morning  of  Saturday,  the  sixth  day,  a  delega- 
tion of  some  thirty  people  arrived  from  Nebraska  and  at 
COIN'S  request  seats  were  provided  for  them. 

The  little  teacher  promptly  appeared  on  the  platform 
at  the  usual  hour  and  announced  that  there  would  be  two 
sessions  of  the  School  for  that  day,  in  order  to  close  with 
the  present  week,  the  last  session  being  fixed  for  8  P.  M. 
He  began : 

"On  the  first  day  we  analyzed  the  true  principles  of 
human  government  and  noted  the  dangers  to  civilization 
that  might  come  from  laws  that  gave  privileges  to  a  few, 
that  in  the  end  would,  if  continued,  work  the  ruin  of  the 
many.  In  the  subsequent  days  of  the  week,  we  have 
traced  the  rise  of  class  laws  in  the  United  States,  and  can 
see  their  destructive  influences.  They  are  now  cul- 
minating for  the  overthrow  of  the  Republic ! 

"Republics  are  not,  as  a  rule,  destroyed  by  forces  from 
without.  They  are  destroyed  by  influences  from  within. 
The  lancet  that  opens  the  veins  of  a  Republic  and  lets  out 
its  life  blood  is  class  legislation.     And  class  laws  are 


140  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

prompted  and  obtained  through  narrow  selfish  motives. 
Self-interest  can  best  be  served  by  promoting  the  interest 
of  all ;  but  narrow  selfishness  seeks  to  build  up  self  at  the 
expense  of  others,  and  in  the  end,  if  permitted,  destroys 
the  common  good.  Unhampered,  as  such  men  have  been 
in  recent  years  in  this  country,  class  laws  become  numer- 
ous, and  the  process  of  transferring  the  property  of  the 
many  to  the  few,  as  w^e  have  seen,  goes  rapidly  on.  All 
classes  of  people  who  can  do  so  are  now  forming  them- 
selves into  unions  or  combinations  for  self-protection. 
And,  not  intelligently  understanding  the  cause  of  their 
discomfiture  or  thrown  into  confusion  for  the  want  of 
union  of  action,  looking  to  the  good  of  all,  the  friction  in- 
creases, till  riots  and  disorders  are  of  common  occur- 
rence. 

"Troops  are  called  out  to  quell  these  riots  and  the  heavy 
hand  of  the  law  for  a  time  brings  peace  and  order,  only  a 
little  later  to  see  the  people,  restless  and  discontented, 
again  protesting  in  some  violent  form,  requiring  a  new 
call  for  soldiers  to  suppress  and  scatter  them.  Many  of 
them  are  cowed  and  humbled  and  with  spirits  broken  are 
willing  to  kiss  the  hand  that  smites  them. 

"The  evil  system  continuing,  the  number  of  depend- 
ants increases,  and  in  mad  competition  for  the  limited  op- 
portunities to  work  and  gain  a  living  they  strike  blows  at 
each  other,  and  again  the  soldiers  come  and  drive  them 
into  subjection,  w^hile  the  awful  cloud  of  despondency 
settles  down  darker  than  before  on  the  country.  These  are 
the  symptoms  of  a  Republic  breaking  down. 

"The  men,  securing  class  legislation,  cater  to  the  law- 
makers, and  while  the  former  are  getting  their  laws  the 
latter  also  pass  other  laws  unnecessarily  increasing  the 
number  of  office  holders,  till  a  swarm  of  office  holders  of 
no  particular  necessity  come  into  existence,  all  drawing 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  141 

salaries  from  the  people.  Taxes  increase.  Corruption  is 
fostered.  Bribery  becomes  a  common  practice.  Finally 
the  men  who  sought  and  obtained  class  legislation,  set- 
ting the  evil  example  of  a  few  preying  upon  the  many, 
become  disgusted  by  increased  taxation  and  the  flagrant 
crimes  that  have  grown  from  the  seed  they  have  sown, — 
and  desire  a  change  from  a  popular  form  of  government. 
This  is  the  cause  of  Republics  breaking  down. 

"They  then,  talking  among  themselves,  say  one  to  the 
other,  'The  Republic  is  a  failure.'  These  men  of  class 
legislation  so  talk.  Having  obtained  the  wealth  of  the 
country,  they  desire  to  lower  taxes  and  to  get  rid  of  the 
politicians.  They  want  a  king  or  an  emperor,  who  will 
appoint  all  the  officers  necessary  and  who  will  recognize 
no  political  crimes  except  that  which  is  concealed  in  privi- 
leged legislation.  This  step  usually  begins  by  centering 
all  power  in  the  President  of  the  Republic,  and  conditions 
approaching  a  Monarchy  or  Empire  often  exist  in  a  Re- 
public before  the  word  king  or  queen,  or  emperor,  is 
openly  spoken. 

"A.  large  number  of  patriotic  people  see  the  situation  as 
it  is  and  know  what  is  intended.  They  watch  the  coming 
change  with  extreme  anxiety — see  the  privileged  few  with 
the  powerful  influence  their  wealth  gives  them,  the  de- 
pendency of  so  many  upon  them  for  employment  and  the 
covert  or  negative  aid  of  their  newspapers ;  see  the  people 
rioting  in  mad  revolt ;  see  martial  law  declared ;  see  the 
corner  grocer  or  merchant,  whose  trade  is  five  dollars  a 
day,  throw  up  his  hands  as  the  soldiers  go  by  shooting 
down  the  people,  and,  who,  knowing  naught  of  why  Re- 
publics fall,  exclaiming  in  unison  with  the  privileged  few, 
'Give  us  a  stronger  government.' 

"It  is  thus  that  the  work  of  demolition  in"  a  Republic 
goes  on.  In  the  meantime  the  privileged  few.  having  made 


142  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

up  their  minds  to  change  the  form  of  government,  they 
watch  their  opportunity.  They  reason  that  to  act  rashly 
is  to  lose,  to  act  cautiously  is  to  win  what  they  desire. 
They  first  wait  for  the  people  themselves  to  get  more  or 
less  disgusted  with  a  corrupted  Republic.  In  the  mean- 
time their  newspapers  print  pictures  of  kings  and  queens 
and  of  other  'royal  personages,'  always  giving  them  their 
titles  of  assumed  nobility;  and  otherwise  exciting  the 
vanity  of  the  men  and  women,  and  accustoming  them  to 
the  ways  of  Monarchies  and  Empires.  The  next  step  is 
to  secure  a  standing  army,  sufficiently  large  to  cope  with 
a  liberty-loving  people  who  will  sell  their  lives  rather  than 
see  the  Republic  destroyed. 

"The  nation  being  thoroughly  honeycombed  with  fraud, 
many  classes  of  people,  good  people,  say  'The  Republic  is 
a  failure.'  One  man  will  say  to  another,  'Within  a  week 
two  men  on  juries  in  this  city  have  sought  a  bribe  of  one 
of  the  litigants.  Assessors,  for  a  bribe,  mark  down  the 
valuation  of  property,  all  branches  of  the  government  are 
rotten — popular  liberty  is  a  failure.'  Many,  not  knowing 
why  Republics  fall,  will  thus  express  themselves.  By 
general  consent  the  business  men  will  want  a  Monarchy. 
The  first  step  is  a  standing  army.  They  want  as  little 
bloodshed  as  possible.  They  want  soldiers  to  encircle  the 
capital.  They  want  soldiers  quartered  near  all  the  cities. 
When  the  time  to  strike  has  come,  the  army  is  used  to 
overawe  the  people — Congress  is  driven  from  the  halls  of 
the  capitol — this  is  the  way  it  has  been  done  in  other  Re- 
publics, and  it  is  the  way  they  are  plotting  to  do  it  in  this 
Republic,  little  realizing  that  while  a  Monarchy  may  bring 
to  them  security  and  peace,  it  is  the  peace  of  death  to 
mankind  and  to  civilization. 

"As  a  rule,  while  waiting,  the  opportunity  presents  it- 
self.   An  evil  system  ripens  one  part  with  an  other.    A 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


143 


selfish  force  having  despoiled  its  own  people,  seeks  other 
peoples  whom  it  may  despoil.     Haying  preyed  upon  its 


own  people,  with  an  enlarged  appetite,  it  looks  about  for 
other  peoples  to  prey  upon, — which  is  called  conquest.  It 


144  MONEY,  TRUSTS.  IMPERIALISM. 

was  so  with  Caesar  and  was  true  of  the  fall  of  the  Roman 
Republic.  It  is  what  may  be  called  a  national  appetite.  It 
means  that  selfishness  has  developed  among  the  individ- 
uals in  such  a  nation  till  it  is  of  national  character.  This 
nation  is  now  in  that  condition  and  the  boys  growing  up 
are  coming  of  age  none  too  soon  to  save  it  from  the  fate 
that  otherwise  awaits  our  Republic. 

"The  opportunity  the  privileged  classes  have  waited  for 
has  come  about  in  this  way :  Recently  Spain,  one  of  the 
Monarchies  of  Europe,  had  permitted  its  privileged  few 
to  lay  tribute  upon  the  people  of  Cuba,  till  the  latter  had 
risen  in  revolt  and  were  contending  against  the  soldiers  of 
Spain  sent  to  hold  them  in  subjection.  The  non-com- 
batants, the  women  and  children,  were  being  herded  and 
starved,  and  the  Cuban  people  generally  had  become  so 
poorly  clothed  and  fed  as  to  look  gaunt  in  person,  arous- 
ing the  indignation  of  all  good  people. 

"Finally  the  United  States  battleship  ]\Iaine  was  blown 
up  in  the  harbor  of  Havana  by  the  Spaniards,  and  war 
was  declared  by  this  nation  against  Spain.  The  war  was 
a  just  one,  but  furnished  the  opportunity  that  the  Mon- 
archists in  this  country  had  been  waiting  for.  All  that 
was  necessary  to  free  Cuba  was  to  send  our  ships  to  de- 
stroy the  ships  of  Spain,  and  have  them  see  that  no  more 
Spanish  soldiers  landed  in  Cuba ;  to  transport  to  Cuba  all 
volunteers  who  wished  to  join  Gomez's  army  and  furnish 
them  arms  and  money ;  and,  if  necessary,  to  send  our  reg- 
ular army  of  25,000  men  over  there.  It  required  less  than 
that  number  of  our  soldiers,  added  to  the  Cuban  army,  to 
whip  the  Spaniards. 

"It  was  the  opportunity,  however,  to  encourage  the 
military  spirit,  that  the  privileged  few  so  much  desired, 
and  a  great  army  was  called  out.  And  bonds  were  issued, 
which  pleased  the  money  lenders.     The  war  was  soon 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  145 

over  lasting  only  a  few  months.  Ending  so  soon,  it  did 
not  furnish  a  sufficient  excuse  for  keeping  a  large  army 
and  disappointed  the  privileged  class.  But  an  opportunity 
was  made  to  continue  the  necessity  for  it. 

"At  the  beginning  of  the  war  with  Spain,  our  ships 

commanded  by  Commodore,  afterward  Admiral   Dewey 

were  sent  to  Manila  to  destroya  Spanish  fleet  there,  which 

they  did  one  morning  before  breakfast.    The  Spaniards 

^vere  treating  the  people  of  the  Philippine  Islands  the 

same  way  they  were  the  people  of  Cuba.    There,  too,  was 

an  army  of  liberty  contending  for  their  freedom  from  the 

tyrannical  rule  of  Spain.     The  Filipinos  had  formed  a 

Republic  and  had  contended  against  a  large  army  of 

Spanish  soldiers,  had  captured  about  7,000  of  them,  and 

had  driven  the  remainder,  some  20,000,  into  the  walled 

city  of  Manila,  at  the  time  Dewey  destroyed  the  Spanish 

fleet. 

"United  States  soldiers  were  hurried  over,  who  arrived 
in  time  to  assist  in  the  capture  of  the  city.  Our  general 
was  instructed  from  Washington  to  not  allow  the  Filipino 
soldiers  to  enter  the  city,  their  city,  the  capital  city  of 
their  island,  and  much  talk  soon  began  that  the  United 
States  did  not  intend  to  allow  the  Filipinos  to  govern 
themselves.  Our  President  also  quartered  an  army  of 
soldiers  in  Cuba,  claiming  that  the  people  of  that  island 
were  not  capable  of  initiating  a  government  for  them- 
selves. The  Cuban  people  submitted  because  of  a  resolu- 
tion that  was  part  of  the  declaration  of  war  against  Spain, 
guaranteeing  independence  to  the  people  of  that  island; 
and  they  are  treating  the  occupation  of  their  island  by  the 
United  States  army  as  temporary. 

"By  our  constitution  Congress  declares  all  wars.  A 
majority  of  the  Senate  was  not  then  in  sympathy  with  the 
evil  forces  that  are  compassing  the  overthrow  of  the  Re- 


146  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

public,  and  one  of  the  people's  Senators  offered  and  had  a 
declaration  of  independence  as  to  Cuba  attached  to  the 
declaration  of  war,  well  knowing  the  influences  control- 
ling the  President  and  what  might  happen  if  such  a  declar- 
ation was  not  made ;  but  no  one  suspected  that  the  spirit 
of  conquest  would  seek  to  go  so  far  from  home  as  the 
Philippine  Islands  to  deprive  a  people  of  their  liberty. 

"The  President  is  still  keeping  the  army  in  Cuba  and 
is  protecting  all  the  special  privileges  granted  by  Spain 
to  her  money  lenders  and  other  citizens  in  that  island. 
The  evil  influence  back  of  the  President  has  since  obtained 
a  majority  of  the  members  in  the  Senate  and  has  retained 
a  majority  of  the  Lower  House.  The  Evil  influence  now 
has  possession  of  the  President  and  both  houses  of  Con- 
gress, and  it  is  questionable  whether  they  intend  to  re- 
spect the  guarantee  of  independence  made  to  the  Cuban 
people.  The  spirit  of  conquest  and  a  desire  for  a  standing 
army,  it  is  thought,  will  cause  them  to  goad  the  Cubans 
into  taking  up  arms  and  again  contending  for  liberty. 

"When  the  American  army  and  Filipino  army  were 
drawn  up  facing  each  other,  at  Manila,  our  general  in- 
formed Aguinaldo,  the  President  of  the  Filipino  Republic, 
that  his  army  would  not  be  permitted  to  enter  their  cap- 
ital city  and  demanded  that  his  men  surrender  their  arms. 
About  that  time  Agoncilo,  the  minister  of  the  Filipino 
Republic,  arrived  at  Washington,  to  represent  his  little 
Republic.  Our  President  and  his  Secretary  of  State  re- 
fused to  see  him  or  to  otherwise  give  him  a  hearing. 

"If  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  President  we  know  how 
Agoncilo  would  have  been  received.  Mr.  Lincoln 
would  have  sent  the  White  House  carriage  to  the  depot 
and  would  have  had  him  brought  direct  to  the  White 
House.  And  he  would  have  said  to  Agoncilo:  'Sit 
down  and  make  yourself  at  home;  tell  me  all  about  your 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  147 

people ;  how  many  men  has  Aguinaldo  in  his  army  ?  We 
are  your  friends  and  we  are  glad  Dewey  went  there ;  you 
have  had  an  awful  time  with  those  Spaniards  for  several 
centuries;  does  it  not  make  you  feel  good  to  have  kind 
strong  friends  like  we  are  ?  You  are  the  first  Republic  to 
arise  in  Asia,  and  we  are  going  to  give  you  a  helping 
hand.' 

"And  Agoncilo,  looking  into  the  kind  face  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  would  have  answered  him  by  saying :  'Mr.  Presi- 
dent, my  people  have  contended  for  liberty  for  centuries 
and  feel  very  thankful  to  this  great  Republic  for  having 
assisted  us  in  breaking  the  chains  of  despotism.  It  was 
the  example  of  this  Republic  that  nerved  our  arms  and 
gave  us  hope.  There  came  to  us  the  echo  of  the  words  of 
your  noble  Patrick  Henry:  'Give  me  liberty  or  give  me 
death' — all  of  our  cabins  are  placarded,  'independence  or 
death:  " 

"Mr.  Lincoln  would  have  answered  him,  saying:  'Go 
to  the  telegraph  office  and  cable  Aguinaldo  that  the  great 
Republic  of  the  western  world  sends  greeting  to  the 
young  Republic  of  the  Orient,  and  will  protect  it  from  the 
other  nations  of  the  world.' 

"That  is  the  way  Mr.  Lincoln  would  have  talked,  and 
those  people  would  have  done  anything  in  the  world  for 
him.  Jefferson  would  have  treated  Agoncilo  as  Mr. 
Lincoln  would.  But  Mr.  AIcKinley  acted  just  the  oppo- 
site. He  refused  to  see  him  and  did  not  answer  Agon- 
cilo's  letter,  sent  to  know  why  he  was  not  given  a  hear- 
ing. The  Filipino  minister  cabled  Aguinaldo  how  he  was 
received  and  his  army  knew  how  their  minister  had  been 
treated,  and  that  it  foreboded  evil  to  them.  The  next  day 
two  Filipino  soldiers  insisted  on  passing  the  American 
soldiers.  An  altercation  occurred  and  shooting  began. 
Then  the  American  'governor  general'  ordered  that  the 


148  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

Filipino  soldiers  be  shot  down.  The  President  sent  more 
soldiers  there  and  now  has  about  60,000  soldiers  in  the 
Philippine  Islands.  They  are  hunting  down  the  Filipinos 
and  shooting  them  just  like  the  Spaniards  did.  Our  main 
officer  in  command  there  is  called  'Governor  General.' 
The  same  name  that  Spain  used  for  hers.  He  has  bought 
the  Spanish  river  gunboats  that  were  formerly  used  by  the 
Spaniards  for  the  same  purpose,  and  is  sending  them  up 
the  rivers  to  kill  the  Filipinos.  The  American  soldiers, 
reluctantly  obeying  the  commands  of  their  officers,  are 
shooting  these  poor  people  down,  all,  just  as  the  Spaniards 
had  been  doing  before  us." 

COIN  was  here  interrupted  by  a  Mr.  Easley,  a  most 
excellent  man  and  one  of  many  who  are  reluctant  to  be- 
lieve that  a  wrong  intention  should  be  imputed  to  our 
government.    He  said : 

"Is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  Tagales  are  in  the  minority  in 
Luzon  Island,  and  that  the  President  is  seeking  to  sup- 
press them  in  order  to  ascertain  the  wishes  of  all  their 
people?" 

"If  the  President  had  so  intended,"  replied  COIN,  "he 
would  have  said  so.  He  has  not  announced  that  as  his 
intention.  Had  he  so  intended  he  would  have  received 
Agoncilo.  Don't  you  think  so?  He  has,  however,  said 
that  his  intention  is  annexation.  He  has  said  that  wher- 
ever the  flag  goes  up  it  shall  not  come  down.  Which 
means  that  if  our  flag  is  put  over  a  man's  house  we  should 
steal  his  house!  What  he  means  is  conquest,  and  he  has 
said  so !  It  is  plainly  to  be  seen  that  the  Evil  influence  is 
controlling  him  !  The  Tagales  are  the  only  educated  peo- 
ple in  Luzon.  Their  President  and  Congress  and  generals 
are  all  said  to  have  been  educated  in  European  colleges. 
The  fact  that  they  had  about  conquered  the  Spanish  army 
and  had  7,000  of  them  prisoners  is  some  evidence  that 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  149 

they  are  the  dominant  people  in  their  country.  There  are 
some  ignorant  tribes  said  to  be  in  the  northern  portion 
of  the  island,  but  the  President  would  hardly  go  to  war 
to  consult  them.  No,"  concluded  COIN,  shaking  his  little 
head,  "if  the  President  had  intended  'fair  play'  he  would 
have  consulted  Agoncillo  and  learned  all  that  he  could 
about  those  people." 

Mr.  Easley  next  asked  this  question : 

"Did  not  Aguinaldo,  for  a  bribe  from  the  Spaniards, 
play  traitor  to  his  people  some  six  months  before  Dewey 
went  to  Manila  ?" 

"No,"  was  the  reply.  "The  Spaniards  thought  they 
could  buy  him  and  tried  to,  just  as  tyrants  have  ever  tried, 
with  bribes,  to  weaken  patriotic  people  in  their  struggles. 
They  offered  him  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  to 
play  the  traitor  to  his  people.  When  the  offer  was  made 
he  called  his  cabinet  and  generals  together  and  informed 
them  of  it.  It  was  proposed  in  the  conference  that  Aguin- 
aldo should  accept  the  money,  and  v.diile  assuming  to  do 
what  was  expected  of  him,  to  go  to  Hong  Kong  and  use 
the  money  to  secretly  buy  and  send  into  the  island  arms 
and  ammunition  which  they  then  stood  much  in  need  of. 
The  moral  side  of  the  question  was  discussed  and  Aguin- 
aldo concluded  that  in  time  of  war  it  v/as  fair  to  forage 
upon  the  enemy;  and  that  the  offered  bribe  gave  the 
money  and  the  opportunity  to  go  after  arms  and  ammu- 
nition. His  generals  so  thought,  and  he  went  through  the 
lines,  accepted  the  money,  and  returned  after  purchasing 
the  arms  and  ammunition,  medicines  and  other  things 
they  needed." 

Mr.  M.  F.  Dunlap,  of  Jacksonville,  111.,  was  in  the  audi- 
ence. He  is  an  avowed  advocate  of  the  Chicago  platform 
and  one  of  the  few  bankers  who  stand  with  the  people  on 
their  side  of  the  financial  question.     He  is  banking  be- 


150 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


cause  it  is  permitted  by  law,  but  is  willing  as  a  matter  of 
justice  to  vote  down  and  abolish  all  laws  and  practices 
not  beneficial  to  civilization.  He  had  followed  the  School 
with  interest  and  now  asked  this  question: 

"Many  of  the  people  are  favorable  to  the  policy  of  the 
President  because  it  will,  they  believe,  extend  the  com- 
merce and  trade  of  the  United  States.  They  call  it  ex- 
pansion and  believe  it  will  improve  business.    I  would  like 


THE  DOG  AND  ITS  SHADOW. 


to  know  for  their  information  how  you  answer  the  propo- 
sition." 

COIN  began  his  reply  by  relating  the  story  of  a  dog 
crossing  a  stream  with  a  piece  of  meat  in  his  mouth,  and 
seeing  his  shadow  in  the  water  and  taking  it  for  another 
dog  with  a  piece  of  meat,  let  go  the  piece  in  his  mouth 
while  trying  to  get  the  shadow.  And  then  continuing 
said: 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  151 

"While  engrossed  in  trying  to  get  possession  of  tlie  land 
of  other  people  and  their  products,  we  overlook  the  possi- 
bilities of  our  own  people.  The  United  States  has  a  very 
large  area  of  land  containing  and  producing  all  the  things 
useful  in  civilization.  To  form  an  idea  of  its  size  I  will 
state  that  you  can  put  all  the  people  in  the  world,  men, 
women  and  children,  savage  and  civilized, — 1,400,000,000 
of  them— all  of  them,  in  the  state  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
each  one  will  have  tw&nty  square  feet.  You  can  put  them 
all,  all  the  people  of  the  ivorld,  in  Cherry  county,  Ne- 
braska, and  each  individual  will  have  73  square  feet.  You 
can  put  all  the  people  of  the  world  in  that  part  of  the 
United  States  west  of  the  Mississippi  river  and  they  can 
live  and  be  prosperous  and  have  practically  all  the  things 
which  the  people  of  the  world  now  enjoy. 

"We  have  room  here  in  the  United  States  for  indefinite 
expansion.  In  our  narrowness  we  are  overlooking-  our 
opportunities.  We  are  broad  compared  with  the  animal 
state,  but  we  are  yet  narrow.  The  hog  under  the  apple 
tree  does  not  look  higher  than  his  head.  He  sees  the 
apples  on  the  ground,  but  knows  naught  of  how  to  im- 
prove the  tree  that  grows  the  apples.  We  must  see  our- 
selves as  one  might  see  us  from  another  planet,  or  as  we 
might  examine  bugs  under  a  microscope.  Man's  covet- 
ousness  makes  him  narrow.  We  must  lift  the  human 
race  to  a  higher  plane. 

"The  money  already  spent  in  buying  a  foreign  people 
and  in  waging  a  v/ar  against  them  would  build  great 
canals  and  public  improvements  i  .  the  United  States  that 
would  result  in  permanently  expanding  our  tr-  de  at  home. 
It  would  connect  Lake  Michigan  with  Lake  Erie  by  a 
big  canal,  employing  tens  of  thousands  of  people.  It 
would  do  infinitely  more  than  that.  It  would  connect  the 
Mississippi  river  and  Lake  Superior.    If  the  same  money 


152 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


were  spent  on  roads  in  Arkansas  it  would  be  a  permanent 
testimonial  to  the  statesmanship  of  the  tirries  and  make  of 
that  state  a  garden  spot.  The  same  may  be  said  of  other 
states.  In  each  instance,  our  home  commerce  would  ex- 
pand from  the  expenditure  of  that  sum  of  money,  much 
more  than  it  will  from  spending 
it  in  a  way  involving  cruelty 
and  loss  of  life. 

'Mr.  Avon  Moore  has  made 
a  preliminary  survey  of  a 
great  irrigating  canal.  The 
headgate  of  the  canal  he  lo- 
cates on  the  Missouri,  just 
south  of  where  the  Cheyenne 
river  enters  it.  The  canal 
thence  runs  about  150  miles  in 
a  southeasterly  direction,  cross- 
ing the  southern  boundary 
line  of  South  Dakota,  continu- 
ing the  same  general  direc- 
tion for  a  distance  of  50  miles  through  the  northwestern 
corner  of  the  state  of  Nebraska,  toward  its  western 
boundary,  it  cuts  past  the  head  of  the  Niobrara  river. 
The  canal  will  enter  the  state  of  Colorado  about  100  miles 
west  of  its  eastern  boundary  line;  crossing  the  North 
and  South  Platte  rivers  by  aqueducts,  it  follows  the  con- 
tour 01  the  country,  leaving  the  ity  of  Denver  about  30 
miles  to  the  west  i.nd  reacnes  to  the  Arkansas  river, 
stretching  from  the  105th  to  the  98th  degree  of  longi- 
tude. The  entire  length  of  the  canal  will  be  490  miles. 
The  plan  for  it  provides  for  eleven  gre^t  reservoirs  and 
the  canal  will  wate    "fty-seven  .'"Hliori  acres  of  arid  lands. 

"Such  an  en'erprise  as  this  .vould  be  expansion,  putting 
as  much  money  in  circulation  as  does  the  war  on  the  Fili- 


d?  (?> 


HE  DOES  NOT  LOOK  HIGHER 
THAN  HIS  HEAD. 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  153 

pinos.  It  would  add  millions  of  home-owners  to  our  pop- 
ulation and  ennoble  and  benefit  mankind.  And  yet  these 
things,  that  have  been  enum_erated,  are  but  the  beginning 
of  a  new,  prosperous  and  happy  era,  when  we  shall  have 
lost  our  narrowness  and  shall  recognize  that  governments 
are  instituted  for  the  promotion  and  development  of  man- 
kind. When  we  have  lost  our  greed,  our  covetousness, 
we  will  recognize  our  opportunities  for  expansion,  at 
home,  and  cease  to  grab  what  other  people  may  have. 
We  will  set  an  example  that  will  invigorate  and  stimulate 
other  people,  till  they,  too,  are  great  and  all  the  world 
shall  sing  in  harmony. 

"If  it  is  lawful  for  the  nation  to  spend  money  In  a  war 
for  expansion  of  commerce  abroad,  it  is  lawful  for  the 
nation  to  spend  money  in  a  war  of  expansion  at  home. 
We  can  throw  open  our  mints  to  silver,  putting  five  mil- 
lions of  men,  women  and  children  in  the  Rocky  and  Sierra 
Nevada  mountains ;  we  can  build  great  irrigating  ditches, 
canals  and  other  improvements,  till  the  United  States  is 
a  beehive  of  industry ;  we  can  thus  pay  our  debts  to  Eng- 
land and  stop  her  subtle  design  for  our  conquest.  All 
these  things  are  within  our  immediate  reach  if  we  will  but 
emancipate  ourselves  from  the  privileged  classes. 

"As  it  is,  like  the  hog  under  the  apple  tree,  not  seeing 
our  opportunities  at  home  we  go  knocking  down  fences 
and  eating  the  apples  of  other  people. 

"Our  course  must  be  original  and  not  copied  from  that 
of  decadent  nations.  Their  example  is  one  of  greed  and 
blood  and  carnage.  Our  ideals  must  be  newer  and  higher ! 
Our  backs  upon  the  past,  our  faces  bathed  in  the  brilliant 
light  of  living  truths,  our  course  onward  to  a  higher 
plane — a  new  example  to  all  the  world ! !" 

And  here,  dropping  this  subject,  that  to  the  audience 
was  of  fascinating  interest,  the  little  reformer  continued : 


154 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


"By  our  constitution.  Congress  is  the  war-making 
power.  No  one  was  intended  to  put  our  nation  at  war 
against  a  people  unless  Congress  first  declared  the  war. 
Our  forefathers  were  wise  in  this  provision.  Congress 
declared  war  against  Spain,  and  later  at  Paris  a  treaty  of 
peace  was  signed.  Then  a  second  war  began.  The  first 
war  was  declared  by  Congress,  the  second  was  declared 
by  the  President.  The  first  war  was  against  a  Monarchy, 
the  second  was  against  a  Republic.    The  first  involved  not 


to  exceed  20,000  soldiers  in  action  and  cost  $250,000  per 
day ;  the  second  war  has  involved  50,000  soldiers  in  action 
and  is  costing  $500,000  per  day.  The  first  war  was  con- 
stitutional and  the  second  war  is  unconstitutional.  It 
shows  that  power  is  being,  arbitrarily,  concentrated  in  the 
hands  of  the  President ;  and  that  when  the  time  comes  to 
strike  they  will  try  to  tear  the  constitution  to  shreds." 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  155 

A  man  by  the  name  of  Governor  from  Iowa  was  in  the 
audience  and  he  now  threw  a  firebrand  into  the  School. 
He  is  a  poHtician  who  is  under  the  Evil  influence.  He  had 
bitterly  denounced  all  those  who  were  opposing  the  war 
on  the  Filipinos,  just  as  his  kind  living  in  Spain  had  acted 
when  that  nation  was  doing  the  same  thing.  He  had  said 
that  if  any  citizen  shot  down  one  opposing  the  war  against 
the  Filipinos  the  person  thus  slaying  his  fellow  man  ought 
to  go  free.    He  said  to  COIN : 

"You  are  a  traitor !  or  you  would  not  use  such  language 
toward  the  President.  The  war  is  not  unconstitutional ! 
The  President  has  a  right  to  quell  and  suppress  a  rebel- 
lion !  The  Filipinos  are  rebels,  sir !  The  President  does 
not  wait  for  an  act  of  Congress  to  suppress  rebels !  It  is 
his  duty,  sir,  to  act  without  such  authority !"  and  with  this 
Mr.  Governor  sat  down. 

The  little  philosopher  listened  without  amazement,  and 
as  calmly  as  one  looking  through  a  microscope  at  bugs,  de- 
livered his  reply.    He  answered: 

"A  rebel  is  one  who  defies  the  authority  of  his  country. 
One,  to  be  a  rebel,  must  be  either  a  native  or  a  naturalized 
citizen.  The  Filipinos  are  neither  natives  nor  naturalized 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  No  one  has  the  right  to 
class  them  as  rebels.  The  President  claimed  they  were 
citizens  by  purchase  from  Spain.  A  truly  Republican 
President  or  Congress  would  not  recognize  such  a  pur- 
chase. Republics  are  founded  on  the  principle  that  'all 
just  governments  derive  their  power  from  the  consent  of 
the  governed.'  It  is  only  Monarchies  that  buy  and  sell 
people.  The  mission  of  a  Republic  is  to  set  a  peaceful 
example  of  freedom,  which  mankind  will  be  glad  to  fol- 
low and  that  will  encourage  peoples,  deprived  of  their 
liberty,  to  strive  to  regain  their  freedom.  The  Filipinos, 
encouraged  by  our  example,  having  gained  their  freedom, 


156  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

wished  to  establish  a  RepubHc  Hke  ours,  with  a  President 
and  Congress,  and  elections  like  ours.  If  you  are  in  busi- 
ness you  do  not  want  others  to  come  and  run  your  busi- 
ness for  you  and  put  high-salaried  officers  in  your  business 
for  you  to  pay.  You  want  to  run  it  yourself.  They 
wanted  to  rule  themselves,  like  we  are  trying  to  govern 
ourselves.  Hence  they  were  overwhelmed  with  surprise 
and  astonishment  at  the  way  our  President  treated  them. 
They  did  not  know  what  many  of  us  know,  that  the  ruling 
classes  is  this  country  no  longer  desire  a  Republic, — so 
the  humiliation  and  disappointment  to  the  Filipinos  were 
very  great  when  we  refused  to  hear  their  minister,  or  to 
recognize  their  Republic, 

"A  man  is  not  a  traitor,"  continued  the  boy,  "who  de- 
fends the  right  of  self-government.  He  should  be  com- 
mended for  trying  to  save  the  flag  from  spoliation  and  a 
bad  purpose.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  treason  to  try,  cov- 
ertly, to  destroy  this  Republic.  It  is  treason  to  Repub- 
lican principles  to  discourage  other  people  when  trying  to 
establish  a  Republic,  or  to  give  aid  or  sympathy  to  a  Mon- 
archy w^hen  engaged  at  war  with  a  Republic !" 

The  little  fellow  delivered  this  reply  without  feeling  or 
emotion  and  in  a  most  kindly  tone.  Its  reception  by  the 
audience  was  electrical.  The  sympathy  the  President  is 
showing  England  in  the  latter's  effort  to  destroy  the  Re- 
publics in  South  Africa  occurred  to  all,  and  added  em- 
phasis to  the  applause  that  greeted  the  little  patriot's  an- 
swer. 

'T  arraign  the  President,"  he  continued,  "for  treason 
in  waging  a  war  without  that  war  having  been  first  de- 
clared by  Congress,  as  required  by  the  constitution !  I 
arraign  him  for  treason  for  a  secret  alliance  with  England 
against  Republics  struggling  for  liberty!     I  arraign  the 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


157 


majority  in  Congress  as  the  willing  puppets  of  the  Evil 
influence  that  prompts  the  President !" 

No  one  had  doubted  the  firmness  and  moral  courage  of 
the  little  advocate,  but  when  he  became  for  the  moment 
the  orator,  denouncing  those  in  high  position  as  enemies 
of  the  Republic,  and  charging  the  President  with  treason, 
— the  older  and  more  conservative  people,  for  the  mo- 
ment, caught  their  breath ;  but  the  effect  on  the  boys  was 
just  the  opposite.     They  jumped  to  their  feet,  stood  on 


THE  PKETOEIA  RACE  TRACK. 


chairs,  shouted  and  waved  their  handkerchiefs.  With 
them  there  was  courage !  They  are  the  prototypes  of  the 
boys  of  the  nation,  whose  instincts  are  humane  and  whose 
characters  have  not  been  warped  and  corrupted  by  covet- 
ousness!  The  women  clapped  their  hands  partly  to  en- 
courage the  boys  and  partly  in  admiration  of  the  little 


158  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

speaker.  The  man  who  had  put  the  tart  question  to  the 
little  defender  of  popular  liberty,  had,  at  the  close  of  the 
reply,  drawn  fire  as  from  flint.  When  the  commotion  that 
had  been  produced  subsided,  COIN  continued : 

"A  double  purpose  is  now  being  served,  by  keeping  a 
standing  arm  in  Cuba  and  60,000  soldiers  in  the  Philip- 
pine Islands  .anting  down  and  shooting  the  people  as 
Spain  did  before  us.  One  is  conquest — a  national  appe- 
tite.   The  other  an  excuse  for  sustaining  a  standing  army. 

"Our  forefathers  warned  us  against  maintaining  a  reg- 
ular or  standing,  army, — and  said  we  should  rely  in  time 
of  peril  on  a  citizen  soldiery — the  state  troops — the  state 
volunteers.  They  said  that  a  regular  army  could  be  used 
by  men  who  would  overthrow  the  Republic,  and  that  the 
citizen  soldiers  could  not  be  thus  used.  What  our  fore- 
fathers said  is  still  strongly  impressed  on  the  minds  of  the 
people  and  a  law  of  long  standing  exists,  that  the  regular 
army  should  not  exceed  25,000  men.  When  war  began 
the  President  asked  Congress  to  increase  it  to  100,000 
soldiers,  but  a  small  majority  of  the  Senate,  at  that  time, 
being  on  our  side,  a  compromise  bill  was  passed  allowing 
the  President  to  increase  the  United  States  army,  tempor- 
arily, to  100,000.  A  majority  in  both  houses  of  Congress 
is,  since  the  last  election,  subservient  to  the  privileged 
classes,  and  the  danger  is  now  imminent  that  the  standing 
army  will  be  permanently  increased.  The  opportunity  has 
thus  arrived  that  those  secretly  plotting  for  the  overthrow 
of  the  Republic  have  waited  for.  Anything  and  every- 
thing they  w^ant  is  now  about  to  go  through  Congress, 
including  a  reduction  of  the  one  per  cent  money  to  the 
bankers  to  tzvo-fiftJis  of  one  per  cent. 

"A  regular  army  is  organized  in  a  way  that  causes  it  to 
unjustly  shoot  down  the  people  when  protesting  against  a 
change  in  their  form  of  government.    The  men  who  are 


Money,  trusts,  imperialism.  159 

coming  into  possession  of  all  the  property  of  the  people, 
through  class  laws,  and  the  formation  of  Trusts,  foresee 
that  they  will  need  a  hired  soldiery  to  protect  them  should 
the  people  become  exasperated.  They  also  foresee  that  a 
time  of  general  riots  and  corruption  in  office  will  soon  be 
at  hand,  under  this  system  of  pilfering  and  degrading  the 
people,  when  it  will  become  necessary,  in  their  judgment, 
to  establish  a  Monarchy ; — and  they  want  a  standing  army 
to  protect  them. 

"A  standing  army  is  mainly  made  up,  as  to  officers,  of 
men  who  are  ambitious  for  promotion.  Who  welcome 
war  as  an  opportunity  to  that  end.  The  privates  are,  as  a 
rule,  men  looking  for  work, — men  without  homes — and 
who  have  abandoned  the  hope  of  owning  a  home.  By 
military  law,  a  private  soldier  in  the  regular  army  is  not 
allowed  to  have  a  wife.  Thus  we  have  an  army  made  up 
of  men  who  are  in  a  w^orse  condition  than  that  of  tenants ; 
who  have  neither  home,  wife  nor  home  influences.  Their 
associations  are  not  refining.  Their  sphere  is  narrow,  and 
to  gratify  their  mere  selfish  wants  becomes  the  usual  limit 
of  their  ambition.  They  are  trained  in  cruelty,  till  they  be- 
come anxious  to  practice  that  cruelty,  by  planting  bullets 
in  the  body  of  some  human  being.  Such  is  a  standing 
army.  And  it  has  ever  obeyed  the  command  of  tyrants 
in  authority — the  men  who  give  therri  their  pay — when 
ordered  to  shoot  down  their  own  citizens  protesting 
against  the  overthrow  of  a  Republic!  It  is  this  kind  of 
an  army  that  the  privileged  class  now  want. 

"The  citizen  soldiers  are  our  state  troops, — the  state 
volunteers.  They  compose  the  army  our  forefathers  said 
we  should  encourage.  The  state  soldiers  are  allowed  to 
marry.  They  have  the  refining  influence  of  home.  They 
take  an  interest  in  the  government.  Such  an  army  is 
composed  of  the  sons,  husbands  and  fathers  of  the  na- 


160 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


tion;  who  spring  to  arms  at  the  call  of  country  and  hu- 
manity !  When  the  war  is  over  they  lay  down  their  arms 
and  return  to  the  bosom  of  their  families.  Such  an  army 
is  the  true  defender  of  a  nation !  It  is  the  only  army 
sacred  to  the  soil  of  free  institutions !  And  such  an  army 
will  not  assist  those  who  have  made  wealth  by  law  to 
overthrow  the  Republic ! 


r^  i<'^i\ 


A  CITIZEN  SOLDIER  LEAVING  HOME  TO  FIGHT  FOR 
COUNTRY  AND  HUMANITY. 


"Our  citizen  soldiers  are  not  willing  to  engage  in  wars 
of  conquest.  They  universally,  some  twenty  regiments  of 
them,  demanded  to  be  returned  from  the  Philippine 
Islands — not  one  regiment  was  willing  to  remain !  Their 
conduct  settles  for  all  time  the  question  of  the  justness  or 
un justness  of  that  war!  In  the  war  between  the  states 
from  '6i  to  '65  the  armies  were  made  up  of  citizen  sol- 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  161 

diers.  It  was  the  First  New  York,  the  Fifth  Ohio,  the 
Tenth  IlHnois,  or  the  Twentieth  Iowa,  as  it  happened,  and 
the  first  and  second  calls  were  for  men  for  a  few  months. 
Did  they  come  back  at  the  end  of  their  enlistments  ?  Till 
the  war  was  over  did  you  see  regiments  marching  home 
with  flag^  flying  and  drums  beating?  No!  And  if  they 
had  come  they  would  have  been  hissed  throughout  the  line 
of  their  march ! 

"How  is  it  with  this  Philippine  war?  This  war  of  con- 
quest and  design?  All  the  regiments  of  citizen  soldiers 
have  returned  though  the  war  continues!  And  as  they 
traversed  the  continent,  as  they  marched  into  their  native 
states,  with  flags  flying,  drums  beating  and  their  com- 
manding officer  at  the  head  of  the  regiment,  it  has  been 
amid  patriotic  cheers  and  shouts  of  welcome !  The  cheers 
of  the  people  and  their  plaudits  of  welcome  were  partly 
because  of  love  for  their  citizen  soldiery,  and  partly  be- 
cause those  soldiers  had  refused  to  aid  in  subjugating  a 
people  whom  they  had  gone  to  war  to  liberate !" 

This  last  statement  was  received  with  deafening  ap- 
plause, and  the  little  orator  continuing  said :  "We  do  not 
need  a  standing  army  in  time  of  peace  or  war.  Wars 
come  preceded  by  months  of  diplomacy.  There  is  always 
time  to  arm  and  drill  the  citizen  soldiers.  ONE  citizen 
soldier  is  worth  TWO  of  the  standing  army !  The  former 
is  a  man  fighting  for  principle  and  humanity,  and  his  tact 
and  courage  rises  above  that  of  the  regular  soldier !  One 
citizen  soldier  in  South  Africa  is  worth  two  of  the  En- 
glish army !  One  is  fighting  for  home  and  children,  the 
other  for  medals  and  pay! 

"A  standing  army  is  an  idea  born  of  Monarchies  and 
is  designed  on  this  continent  for  the  enslavement  of  the 
people !  Any  war  that  our  citizen  soldiers  will  not  fight  is 
an  unjust  war!    Let  a  Republic  be  so  conducted  that  its 


163  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

people  are  the  owners  of  homes  and  they  will  ever  be  its 
bulwark  and  defense !" 

Thr6ughout  this  recital  of  the  return  of  the  citizen  sol- 
diers from  the  Philippine  Islands,  his  arraignment  of  a 
standing  army,  and  his  praise  for  the  citizen  soldiers,  the 
little  speaker  was  interrupted  time  and  again  with  ap- 
plause, the  boys  as  usual  leading  in  the  acclamation  of 
approval. 

"Will  it  pay  to  try  to  subjugate  foreign  people?  Hit 
'em  from  that  standpoint !"  exclaimed  Captain  Parkhurst, 
of  South  Omaha,  Neb. 

"No,"  was  the  reply.  "It  does  not  pay.  The  Roman 
Republic  tried  it,  depleted  her  treasury,  and  fell  in  ruins ! 
Spain  tried  it  and  now  lies  humiliated,  an  object  of  pity 
among  nations,  England,  the  money  lender  of  the  world, 
with  a  power  to  aid  her  greater  than  had  Rome  or  Spain, 
she,  too,  has  tried  it, — conquest  by  force  and  by  subtlety. 
She  now  shakes  upon  her  foundation  and  is  ready  to 
crumble  in  ruins !  All  honor  to  the  Dutch  of  South  Africa 
who  have  struck  the  blow  that  is  the  beginning  of  the  end 
of  the  British  Empire!  Iler  centuries  of  oppression  in 
Ireland ;  her  cruelty  to  the  people  of  Egypt  and  India ;  her 
covetousness  in  dealings  with  all  nations,  is  now  to  react 
upon  her !  Her  former  sturdy  yeomanry  are  tenants  and 
dependants !  The  character  of  her  citizenship  is  depleted 
by  vanity  and  selfishness !  The  soldiers  of  such  a  nation 
will  be  vanquished  in  battle  by  the  soldiers  of  a  liberty 
loving  people !  The  experience  of  England  is  now  to  be 
added  to  that  of  Spain  and  Rome !  Humbled  and  bleed- 
ing, her  treasury  depleted,  she  will  be  a  new  example  to 
America ! 

"Selfishness  is  a  consuming  fire  that  burns  and  destroys 
in  one  all  that  is  true  and  noble !  It  is  true  of  an  individ- 
ual and  it  is  true  of  a  nation !    It  prematurely  brings  old 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


16: 


age,  and   death!     Conquest — the   subjugation  of  other 
people — will  injure  us  both  in  purse  and  morals! 

"But  all  this  is  incidental  only  to  the  great  drama  of 
nations  being  played  on  our  soil.  Monarchy  is  ready  to 
spring  at  the  throat  of  the  Republic !  The  privileged  few 
seek  by  arbitrary  force  the  permanent  subjugation  of  the 
people.  They  will  push  a  bill  in  Congress  to  increase  the 
standing  army.    If  they  carry  the  presidential  election  in 


Bafi  p!l|iS||®E- 


ALL  THESE  THINGS  THEY  WILL  DO  IN  AN  EFFORT 
TO  DECEIVE  THE  PEOPLE. 

1900,  in  four  years  more,  they  will  disclose  openly  their 
desire  for  a  Monarchy !  Do  not  deceive  yourselves  that 
the  struggle  will  be  an  easy  one!  The  forces  of  Evil  we 
are  combating  are  organized,  and  determined  of  purpose 
to  enslave  America !  They  will  resort  to  all  manner  of 
methods  to  entrap  and  deceive  the  people.    A  great  man. 


164  MONEY,  TRUSTS.  IMPERIALISM. 

Dr.  Johnson,  once  said,  'The  last  resort  of  a  villain  is  pro- 
fuse patriotism !'  It  is  as  true  to-day  as  when  the  words 
were  first  uttered !  They  will  wrap  themselves  in  the  flag 
and  ostentatiously  appeal  to  your  patriotism !  They  will 
put  the  names  of  their  candidate  across  the  pure  folds  of 
the  stars  and  stripes !  In  an  effort  to  deceive,  they  will 
thus  debase  the  ensign  of  liberty !  They  will  use  Thanks- 
giving day  as  a  delusion  and  a  snare!  They  will  hold 
aloft  the  Cross  and  comm.it  crimes  in  the  name  of  Chris- 
tianity !  They  are  now  in  many  of  our  schools  teaching 
false  histories  of  the  nation !  They  will  use  money  to  de- 
bauch the  people  where  they  can !  This  is  the  force  we 
have  to  meet !  Let  us  meet  it  as  becomes  the  descendants 
of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Jackson  and  Lincoln !  As  men 
who  would  not  be  slaves ! !" 

COIN  had  finished  amidst  tumultuous  applause  on  the 
subject  of  Imperialism.  He  had  made  plain  the  cause  of 
the  fall  of  Republics.  Had  answered  the  arguments  of 
expansion  by  pointing  to  the  opportunities  for  unlimited 
expansion  on  our  own  vast  area ;  had  shown  that  all  at- 
tempts at  the  subjugation  of  other  people  had  been  disas- 
trous, financially,  and  had  reacted  in  loss  of  pride  and  na- 
tional humiliation.  His  portrait  of  the  true  purpose  of 
the  special  classes  to  overthrow  the  Republic  was  vivid 
and  convincing.  That  Trusts  and  Imperialism  were  the 
logical  offspring  of  class  legislation  none  doubted,  and 
few  who  heard  him  failed  to  see  the  imminent  dangers 
now  confronting  the  American  people.  The  School  ad- 
journed till  the  night  session,  that  was  to  prove  memor- 
able on  the  subject  of  a  remedy,  for  a  nation  in  the  hour 
of  its  peril. 

END  OF  SIXTH  LESSON. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Last  Lesson. 

It  was  Saturday  evening,  and  it  was  known  to  all  who 
had  followed  in  the  local  newspapers  the  proceedings  of 
the  School  that  it  would  close  that  night.  Great  crowds 
began  coming  early  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  boy,  till  by 
7 130  over  ten  thousand  people  filled  the  lake  park  in  and 
around  the  Art  Institute. 

Demands  for  admission  had  grown  with  the  progress 
of  the  School,  and  after  the  adjournment  of  the  day  ses- 
sion on  Saturday  a  temporary  wooden  gallery  was  erected 
in  the  room  with  about  300  additional  seats.  Besides  this, 
every  conceivable  space  of  standing  room  was  permitted 
to  be  occupied.  The  hall  was  brilliantly  lighted  with  elec- 
tric lights  and  on  the  platform  was  the  easel  so  often  used, 
with  the  one  word  on  it — organization. 

The  interest  was  intense  when  the  little  statesman  and 
orator  at  8  o'clock  appeared  on  the  platform.  He  began 
by  thanking  all  for  the  great  respect  and  attention  that 
had  been  shown  him,  and  then  proceeded : 

"How  are  we  to  bring  swiftly  and  surely  a  remedy  that 
will  put  the  past  behind  us  and  a  glorious  future  before 
us  ?    That  is  the  most  important  question  of  the  hour ! 

"Upon  the  subject  of  a  remedy,  the  product  of  human 
wisdom  of  to-day  may  be  improved  upon  as  we  proceed ; 
but  the  foundation  for  the  superstructure  can  now  be 
safely  laid.  Among  other  things,  the  following  are  im- 
perative : 

"l.     Education   should  be  pressed  till  every  one  is 

ie5 


166 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


aware  of  the  nation's  peril  and  intelligently  understands 
the  source  of  danger. 

"2.  We  should  be  charitable  and  kind  towards  those 
who  oppose  us  and  dignified  and  firm  with  those  who  are 
without  charity  and  ill  bred.  And  at  all  times  be  steadfast 
and  unalterable  in  our  purpose. 

"3.     While  recognizing  the  rights  of  others,  we  should 


be  industrious  in  providing  for  ourselves.  Besides  the 
necessity  of  it,  there  is  much  happiness  to  be  had  from 
having  one's  time  usefully  occupied.  Laziness  leads  to  a 
desire  to  have  some  one  support  such  person  in  idleness 
— and  breeds  false  pride,  vanity  and  unhappiness.  Such 
people  become  the  most  selfish  and  the  most  willing  to  prey 
upon  others. 

"4.     Boys  and  girls,   early  in   life,   should  accustom 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  167 

themselves  to  be  honest  and  upright.  Good  habits,  Hke 
bad  habits,  become  second  nature  from  long  practice. 
When  one  becomes  industrious  and  honest  from  practice, 
it  is  easy  to  remain  so."  As  he  said  those  things  which  he 
numbered  "3  and  4,"  he  looked  at  the  boys  and  girls,  the 
former  especially  being  numerous  in  the  middle  portion  of 
the  audience,  and  then  continued : 

"5.  We  must  learn  that  the  laws  of  God  are  as  fixed  as 
his  law  of  gravitation,  that  pain  and  disaster  will  come, 
now  or  hereafter,  to  individuals  and  nations,  that  do  not 
recognize  and  obey  those  laws ;  and  that  by  learning  and 
observing  them  a  great  and  glorious  future  will  come  to 
individuals  and  nations. 

"6.  All  state  troops  and  other  soldiers  should  be  re- 
quired to  study  the  elementary  truths  of  civilization  and 
the  elementary  principles  of  a  Democracy. 

"7.  All  who  would  assist  in  saving  the  Republic — who 
would  not  be  slaves — should  join  together  in  one  political 
organization. 

"8.     Thorough  organization  of  our  forces. 

"g.  As  early  as  possible  the  Referendum  should  be 
established  in  this  Republic  as  it  is  now  practiced  in  the 
Swiss  Republic,  or  an  improvemxent  on  the  Swiss  plan, — 
which  means  the  submission  of  all  questions  of  national 
policy  to  the  people — the  will  of  the  people  as  the  basis, 
the  government  to  be  conducted  upon  strictly  business 
principles. 

"The  first  six  of  the  foregoing  remedies  are  educa- 
tional, and  the  last  three  are  organizational.  The  first- 
named  would  cover  the  sixth,  but  the  sixth  is  to  impress 
its  special  importance.  These  are  practical  remedies,  that 
underlie  all  other  remedies.  If  organized  effort  is  not 
used  for  the  accomplishment  of  these  nine  things,  the  spe- 
cific remedies  that  are  desired  will  never  be  enacted  into 


168  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

law.  We  must  begin  lower  and  deeper  down  than  we  are 
working  at  present,  and  then  all  things  desirable  will  come 
easier,  after  a  time. 

"We  must  learn  anew  the  principles  that  governments 
are  instituted  for  the  promotion  and  development  of  the 
human  race;  that  man  serves  himself  best  by  promoting 
the  common  good ;  that  kindness  begets  kindness  and 
cruelty  begets  cruelty.  We  must  learn  the  elementary 
principles  wrought  from  the  experience  of  those  who  have 
preceded  us  in  attempting  to  solve  the  problem  of  man- 
kind. All  this  is  educational,  and,  for  success,  depends  on 
organization.  Wherein  the  foundation  work  begins  is 
organization.    And,  first,  a  word  to  the  boys : 

"Boys,"  he  continued,  looking  at  the  group  in  the  cen- 
ter of  the  hall,  "upon  you  this  struggle  will  mostly  de- 
pend. You  will  be  voters  when  you  come  of  age.  You 
will  be  active  agents  in  setting  your  country  right.  Paul 
Revere  was  a  boy  who  was  first,  in  1776,  to  give  the  alarm 
that  the  British  soldiers  were  coming.  To  you  we  must 
look  for  the  greatest  source  of  our  strength.  And,  girls, 
you  are  the  type,  when  making  pictures,  of  which  we 
make  angels.  You  must  encourage  the  boys  that  they  may 
all  vote  right  when  they  come  of  age." 

Speaking  to  the  audience  generally  he  continued : 

"The  inventor  in  the  mechanics  and  arts,  may  achieve 
wonderful  results,  because  the  crude  material  is  put  to- 
gether as  the  inventor  directs.  But  not  so  in  statesman- 
ship— the  science  of  government.  To  bring  civilization 
to  perfection  the  people  must  move  en  masse.  Inventive 
minds  may  direct,  but  must  wait  on  the  people  to  approve. 
We  must  move  en  masse.  This  requires  general  educa- 
tion and  organization.  And  organization  is  necessary  to 
secure  universal  education. 

"Organization  begins  with  concentrating  our  efforts  in 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


169 


one  political  party.  If  political  parties  are  corrupt,  it  is 
because  jnen  have  neglected  their  dut)'.  If  we  divide  our 
votes  between  two  or  more  parties,  we  cannot  hope,  so 
easily,  to  succeed.  In  tmion  of  effort  there  is  success.  It 
is  as  easy  to  make  pure  one  of  the  existing  political  par- 
ties as  it  is  to  start  and  build  up  a  new  political  party. 
The  same  influence  that  corrupts  existing  political  parties 


PAUL  REVEBE. 

will  corrupt  any  new  political  party  when  those  who  wish 
to  use  it  for  bad  purposes  see  that  it  is  coming  into  prom- 
inence. Our  shortest  road  to  success  is  to  take  charge  of 
one  of  the  two  largest  political  parties :  make  it,  truly,  rep- 
*resent  the  common  good ;  and  through  it,  as  an  organi- 
zation, elect  a  President,  a  Congress  and  L^slatures  that 
will  repeal  all  class  laws  and  pass  such  other  laws  as  will 
restore  equal  rights  to  all  and  special  privileges  to  none. 


r:0  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

To  do  tills,  it  means  that  we  must  organize ;  and  our  or- 
ganization must  be  a  political  party.  We  will  gain  ten 
years  by  winning  to  us  one  of  the  existing  political  par- 
ties. 

"Our  enemy — the  enemy  of  mankind — the  great  Evil 
influence  of  which  I  have  spoken,  has  tried  to  capture  all 
political  parties,  that  the  Good  influence  that  seeks  to  save 
mankind,  might  have  no  effective  organization.  This 
enemy,  this  Evil  Spirit,  a  ffew  years  ago,  had  captured  the 
two  leading  political  parties,  known  as  the  'republican 
party'  and  the  'democratic  party ;'  and  some  people  began 
the  organization  of  a  third  party,  known  as  the  'populist 
party,'  while  others  tried  to  throw  off  the  Evil  influence 
that  had  taken  possession  of  the  two  first-named  parties. 
In  the  case  of  the  'democratic  party,'  our  friends  suc- 
ceeded in  1896,  and  the  'democratic  party'  declared  plainly 
on  the  side  of  the  people,  and  nominated  for  President  a 
statesman.  Those  desiring  privileged  laws  succeeded  in 
controlling  the  'republican  party.'  Those  in  the  'demo- 
cratic party'  who  belonged  with  the  privileged  classes 
went  over  to  the  'republican  party.'  On  the  other  hand, 
many  in  the  'republican  party'  went  over  to  the  'demo- 
cratic party;'  and  those  who  had  begun  forming  a  third 
party,  seeing  that  the  Good  influence  had  control  of  the 
'democratic  party'  commenced  coming  over  to  it.  Many 
of  them,  however,  hesitated,  believing  that  the  dominant 
influence  in  the  'democratic  party'  was  trying  to  deceive 
the  people,  to  get  their  votes,  and  that  it  would  not  enact 
proper  laws  if  put  in  power. 

"It  is  true  that  the  Evil  influence  is  still  trying  to  cap- 
ture the  'democratic  party;'  and  the  way  to  prevent  it  is* 
for  all  of  us  to  go  in  and  help  our  friends  in  that  organiza- 
tion.   There  is  not  time  to  form  a  new  political  party ; — 
we  will  cross  the  dead  line  before  a  new  party  can  grow 


MONEY,  TRUSTS.  IMPERIALISM.  171 

strong  enough  in  numbers  to  save  the  Republic.  If  we  are 
not  strong  enough  to  capture  or  retain  one  of  the  two  po- 
htical  parties,  we  are  not  sufficiently  strong  to  capture  the 
nation.  We  can  do  so.  And  then  the  two  forces  of  GooH 
and  Evil  will  confront  each  other:  One  under  the  banner 
of  the  'democratic  party'  and  the  other  under  the  banner 
of  the  'republican  party.'  The  names  signify  practically 
the  same,  meaning  a  democratic  or  republican  form  of 
government.  The  true  purpose  of  the  two  organizations 
must  be  judged  by  their  actions  and  what  the  men  repre- 
sent who  compose  them. 

"The  'democratic  party'  in  the  main  has  for  leaders  men 
who  are  not  interested  in  class  legislation  and  who  are  sin- 
cere of  purpose  in  trying  to  establish  equal  rights  to  all 
and  special  privileges  to  none.  The  'republican  party'  in 
the  main  is  controlled  by  men  who  are  profiting  by  class 
laws,  and  who  are  seeking  to  pass  still  other  class  laws. 
Mr.  McKinley  was  made  President  by  them. 

"A  few  years  ago  he  was  living  at  Canton,  Ohio,  and 
was  in  debt  about  $100,000,  and  a  few  men  interested  in 
class  laws  paid  ofif  this  debt  for  him,  and  thus  placed  him 
under  obligations  to  them.  They  then  put  him  up  as  a 
candidate  for  President  of  the  United  States  and  suc- 
ceeded in  electing  him,  using  the  'republican  party'  to  do 
so.  This  man  is  now  the  recognized  head  of  the  'repub- 
lican party'  and  we  can  best  judge  of  the  power  control- 
ling him  by  the  men  he  confers  with.  The  chairman  of 
the  Republican  National  Committee  is  a  Mr.  Hanna,  one 
of  the  men  who  helped  to  pay  the  debt  of  $100,000.  He 
is  the  head  of  the  Iron  Trust.  He  has  a  bed  in  the  White 
House,  where  the  President  lives,  patterned  after  the 
style  of  a  bed  the  Queen  of  England  sleeps  in,  and  often 
sleeps  there.    He  recently  said  on  returning  from  a  visit 


17S  MONEY.  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

to  England  that  theirs  was  a  better  form  of  government 
than  ours. 

"The  President's  Secretary  of  State  is  a  Mr.  Hay,  who 
was  formerly  secretary  of  the  Oil  Trust — the  Standard 
Oil  Company.  His  Secretary  of  War  was  at  the  time  of 
his  appointment  the  attorney  of  Trusts,  and  his  environ- 
ments have  taught  him  to  believe  that  what  the  Trusts 
want  is  just  and  right.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is 
a  Mr.  Gage,  who,  at  the  time  of  his  appointment,  was 
president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Chicago,  one  of 
the  leading  men  of  the  Money  Power — the  Money  Trust. 
All  the  other  men  in  his  cabinet  are  connected  with  some 
one  or  more  Trusts,  and  are  interested  in  class  laws.  The 
Vice-President,  who  recently  died,  and  who  was  elected 
by  the  'republican  party,'  was  the  head  of  the  Coal  Trust. 
From  this  we  would  be  blind  if  we  did  not  see  that  the 
'republican  party'  is  the  champion  of  the  cause  of  the 
privileged  classes. 

"So,  having  naturally  decided  that  we  will  go  with  the 
'democratic  party,'  we  come  to  the  next  step  that  we 
should  take. 

"It  is  to  thoroughly  organize  that  party  that  it  may 
grow  purer  and  stronger,  and  with  such  an  organization 
overthrow  the  forces  of  Evil  in  the  United  States.  And 
how  organize? 

"First,  we  should  favor  an  early  convention  of  our 
party  in  1900  to  nominate  our  candidate  for  President. 
Our  party  is  a  party  with  a  remedy  and  is  therefore  a  pro- 
gressive party.  A  progressive  party,  to  be  successful, 
must  be  aggressive.  The  earlier  the  convention  the  more 
time  we  will  have  to  organize  and  educate.  At  the  na- 
tional convention,  each  four  years,  a  national  committee 
is  selected,  in  this  way :  Each  state  delegation  to  the  na- 
tional convention  selects  some  one  as  the  member  of  the 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  173 

national  committee  from  that  state ;  so  the  committee  is 
composed  of  one  man  from  each  of  the  states  and  terri- 
tories. This  is  done  at  the  time  of  the  national  convention 
and  the  first  thing  done  after  the  convention  adjourns  is 
a  meeting  of  the  new  national  committee. 

"The  committee  elects  a  chairman  and  secretary,  and 
usually  leaves  to  its  chairman  the  selection  of  an  executive 
committee  and  such  other  committees  as  he  may  find  de- 
sirable. So  that  practically  the  campaign  is  placed  under 
the  direction  of  one  man,  the  chairman — which  is  proper. 
Thus  our  general — our  campaign  manager — is  selected. 
Of  equal  importance  with  selecting  the  proper  candida^te 
for  President  is  the  selection  of  the  chairman  of  the  na- 
tional committee.  He  should  be  a  man  of  vast  executive 
ability,  who  knows  the  value  of  time,  fruitful  in  resources, 
who  can  systematize  work,  of  splendid  judgment,  quick  of 
decision  and  aggressive. 

"He  should  be  a  man  who  can  give  all  of  his  time  for 
four  years  to  the  work,  and,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  do 
this,  he  should  be  paid  a  salary  in  keeping  with  his  tastes 
and  private  expenses.  He  should  have  no  other  occupa- 
tion, position  or  employment,  and  should  not  be  a  candi- 
date for  any  office.  His  mind  should  be  solely  occupied 
with  organization  to  advance  a  principle  disconnected 
from  personal  advancement.  No  man  can  m.aster  two 
things  with  the  success  that  he  can  master  one.  As  a  rule 
if  he  tries  to  do  two  things  neither  will  be  attended  to 
properly.  Nor  can  he  delegate  his  powers  without  cre- 
ating indecision  in  the  executive  head,  or  other  resulting 
embarrassment.  There  must  be  no  diminution  in  the 
highest  possible  service  from  such  a  man.  All  now  de- 
pends upon  this  struggle  upon  which  we  enter;  and  our 
commander-in-chief  is  the  chairman  of  the  national 
committee.    A  candidate  for  President  is  so  situated  that 


174  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

beyond  being  adviser  he  cannot  manage  the  practical 
work — and  he  ceases  to  be  a  candidate  within  the  year  that 
he  is  nominated.  The  chairmanship  lasts  for  four  years ; 
and  it  should  be  four  years  of  incessant  work,  whether 
successful  in  1900  or  not.  Success  means  a  beginning, 
and  defeat  means,  in  a  political  sense,  a  Valley  Forge  and 
then  a  Yorktown ! 

"Our  people  should  take  great  interest  in  the  selection 
of  delegates  to  the  national  convention,  and  each  delega- 
tion should  select  a  man  for  member  of  the  national  com- 
mittee who  is  practical  and  of  a  high  order  of  executive 
ability.  Send  delegates  to  the  national  convention  firm  of 
purpose  and  determined  in  character. 

"Having  selected  a  commander-in-chief,  a  chairman 
of  the  national  committee,  it  becomes  his  duty  to  set  in 
motion  organization.  In  this  work  he  will  need  many 
assistants — all  of  us — but  two  kinds  of  assistants.  One 
kind  that  give  all  of  their  time;  the  other  that  give  part 
of  their  time.  Those  who  give  all  of  their  time  should  not 
be  permitted  to  have  any  other  occupation ;  if  they  have 
they  cannot  become  proficient  in  their  duties.  They 
should  be  paid  a  salary.  Those  who  give  part  of  their 
time,  as  all  will  do,  in  work  in  their  neighborhoods  or 
otherwise,  should  receive  nothing  therefor  from  the  com- 
mittee. 

"There  must  be  a  fund  to  financier  the  committee. 
Money,  as  we  have  noticed,  in  a  measure,  is  as  necessary 
as  air  and  water.  Success  in  organization  cannot  be  ac- 
complished without  money,  and  a  sufficient  quantity  of  it. 
This  must  be  furnished  by  all.  The  committee  should 
have  a  regular  income ;  and  subscriptions,  taking  the  form 
of  monthly  payments,  should  be  the  way  of  assistance  the 
m.ost  serviceable.  We  should  all  give — a  penny  a  month, 
5  cents  a  month,  10  cents  a  month,  25  cents  a  month,  50 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  175 

cents  a  month,  a  dollar  a  month,  or  more— and  give  it 
gladly,  to  an  emancipation  movement  that  is  to  render 
slaves  freemen ! 

The  Philosophy  of  It. 
"One  who  gives  as  much  as  a  penny  a  month  to  such  a 
fund  will  not  require  a  buggy  to  be  sent  to  bring  him  to 
the  polls  on  the  day  of  the  election.  You  will  understand 
the  philosophy  of  why  the  people  should  financier  their 
own  political  organization  by  examining  as  to  how  class 
legislation  has  been  obtained  in  the  United  States. 

"Prior  to  1896,  both  of  the  two  political  parties  were 
financiered  from  the  same  source.  The  national  com- 
mittees of  the  Democratic  and  Republican  parties  re- 
ceived the  money  to  pay  the  expenses  of  their  campaigns, 
mainly,  from  those  who  were  profiting  by  class  legisla- 
tion. The  secretary  of  the  Sugar  Trust  in  1893,  testified 
before  a  Congressional  investigating  committee.  The 
committee  was  investigating  the  election  of  1892.  He 
testified  that  his  company  contributed  a  large  sum  to 
each  of  the  two  national  committees.  On  being  asked 
why  his  company  gave  to  both  of  them,  he  answered: 
'We  want  to  be  safe,  no  matter  who  is  elected.'  Other 
Trusts  and  men  wanting  privileged  legislation  did  the 
same,  and  it  made  little  difference  which  party  came 
into  power.  These  men  had  placed  the  leaders  of  each 
party  under  obligations  to  them. 

"When  Congress  met,  these  men  of  class  legislation 
were  there,  with  their  bills,  and  mainly  had  politicians 
to  deal  with  whom  they  had  furnished  money  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  their  campaigns. 

"Politics  had  thus  degenerated,  till  the  people  were 
taught  to  believe,  that  no  one  had  any  interest  in  elec- 
tions but  the  candidates  for  office  and  those  who  could 


176  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

make  something  for  themselves  out  of  it.  It  became  a 
common  practice  of  the  national  and  local  committees 
to  seek  money  for  campaign  expenses  only  from  those 
who  expected  to  be  specially  benefited — and  thus  class 
legislation  grew  and  fattened. 

"In  1896,  the  people  in  the  'Democratic  party'  had  be- 
come indignant  and  aroused,  sufficiently  to  throw  off  the 
evil  influence  in  their  own  party,  and  make  a  platform 
and  put  a  candidate  on  it,  that  truly  represented  the 
people.  They  w^ere  so  firm  and  determined  of  purpose 
that  the  men  of  class  legislation  became  frightened.  That 
is,  they  believed  that  if  they  assisted  it,  that  it  would 
result  in  no  good  to  them ;  and,  these  men  of  class  legis- 
lation all  went  into  the  'Republican  party.' 

"In  the  campaign  of  1896,  the  Sugar  Trust  gave  one 
million  dollars  to  the  Republican  national  committee ;  and 
when  that  party  went  into  povv^er,  the  next  year,  the 
Dingley  tariff  bill  was  introduced  and  referred  to  its 
proper  committee.  The  officers  of  the  Sugar  Trust  indi- 
cated to  the  Republican  members  of  that  committee  what 
tariff  they  would  like  to  have  on  sugar.  It  was  given 
to  them  in  grateful  recollection  of  the  million  dollar 
donation  to  their  national  committee.  As  soon  as  the 
bill  passed,  the  Sugar  Trust  raised  the  price  of  sugar 
one  cent  a  pound ;  and  in  one  year  that  one  cent  per  pound 
represented  two  million  dollars  profit  to  the  Sugar  Trust. 
The  tariff  had  protected  it  that  much  from  competition 
from  other  countries.  In  one  year  the  Sugar  Company 
had  back  its  one  million  dollars,  invested  in  the  Republi- 
can national  committee,  a  million  dollars  profit,  and  future 
years  to  draw  upon. 

"These  men  of  class  legislation  are  not  philanthropists, 
and  they  gave  to  the  national  committee  for  the  purpose 
of  getting  the  laws  they  wanted.    They  all  went  out  of 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  1T7 

the  'Democratic  party'  in  1896,  and  went  into  the  'Reptib- 
Hcan  party.'  Whereas,  before  1896,  they  had  their  eggs 
in  two  baskets  and  did  not  care  which  party  was  elected, 
the  action  of  the  Democratic  national  convention  caused 
them  to  put  all  their  eggs  in  one  basket.  That  is,  to  rely 
solely  on  the  'Republican  party.'  Thus  having  only  one 
chance,  they  were  frightened  and  placed  in  the  hands  of 
that  party's  national  committee,  ten  times  as  much  money 
as  they  had  formerly  given  to  both  national  committees. 

'Tn  the  campaign  of  1896,  the  Democratic  national 
committee  did  not  have  a  dollar  in  its  treasury  as  late  as 
September  ist  of  that  year;  and  afterwards  had  very 
little  to  what  was  necessary.  A  national  campaign  is  one 
of  organization  and  education,  and  frequently  the  com- 
mittee's telegraph  bills  will  amount  to  as  much  as  $200 
per  day ;  and  if  the  organization  of  the  people  is  without 
money,  to  provide  for  the  expense  of  speakers,  clerks, 
literature,  telegrams  and  postage,  it  can  be  defeated,  with 
a  just  cause." 

COIN  had  proceeded  thus  far  without  any  interrup- 
tion ;  but  a  question  was  now  asked  by  Mr.  "Buck"  Tan- 
ner of  Paris,  Illinois.    He  said : 

'T  know  of  money  being  used  by  both  political  parties 
to  buy  votes.    Is  it  excusable  under  any  circumstances?" 

"No,"  was  the  reply.  And  the  boy  continued :  "Hon- 
esty is  always  the  best  policy.  When  one  resorts  to  tricks 
and  dishonest  methods,  it  grows  on  him,  and  he  will, 
from  habit,  thus  resort  when  an  honest  method  would 
better  answer  the  purpose.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  in- 
genuity of  the  human  mind,  and  it  can  become  more 
proficient  in  honest  methods  and  accomplish  more,  than 
it  can  with  dishonest  methods.  A  plan  that  teaches  the 
people  to  rely  on  themselves,  and  furnishes  the  money 
with  which  to  send  organizers    into   each   county,   can 


178  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

arouse  within  the  people  the  spirit  of  freedom — and  will 
bring  success  in  a  just  cause.  There  are  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  RepubHcans  who  will  flock  to  our  standard  as 
soon  as  they  feel  that  our  cause  and  its  leaders  are  honest ; 
and  each  act  of  dishonesty  such  as  you  speak  of,  if  com- 
mitted by  any  of  our  people,  will  only  serve  to  repel  those 
who  should  come  to  our  assistance." 

Mr.  W.  H.  Thompson,  the  Democratic  national  com- 
mitteeman from  Nebraska,  was  in  the  delegation  from 
that  state,  that  had  arrived  in  the  morning,  and  that  had 
been  given  seats  on  the  platform.  He  now  rose,  not  to 
ask  a  question,  but  to  make  a  statement.    He  said : 

"In  connection  with  what  has  here  been  said,  I  want  to 
say  that  in  Nebraska,  we  have  tested  the  plan  of  inter- 
esting the  people  in  financiering  their  own  campaigns. 
With  one  man  at  work  four  months,  we  raised  in  small 
monthly  payments,  the  last  payment  to  fall  due  November 
I,  1900,  $20,480,  in  subscriptions;  and  during  that  four 
months  $4,500.35  of  the  money  was  paid  in  cash,  a  sum 
slightly  in  advance  of  what  was  due  on  the  subscriptions. 
The  same  man  perfected  organization  as  he  proceeded, 
thus  starting  organization  in  fifty  counties.  We  found 
that  it  interested  our  people,  and  made  workers  out  of 
many  who  never  before  took  an  interest  in  politics.  In 
one  of  those  meetings  a  ]\Ir.  Shoemaker  of  Fairbury  arose 
and  said :  'I  am  going  to  contribute  one  dollar  a  month 
to  this  movement,  and  I  look  at  it  in  this  way :  If  we  don't 
go  at  this  thing  in  a  self-respecting  way,  and  win,  we  will 
have  to  pay  the  Republican  campaign  fund  of  1900,  as 
we  paid  its  campaign  expenses  of  1896.  Their  method  is 
to  advance  the  money  and  afterwards  take  it  out  of  the 
people.' 

"At  Beatrice,  a  Mr.  Davis  said:  'This  beats  life  in- 
surance.   You  do  not  have  to  die  to  beat  the  game.'    At 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM.  1'<'9 

Plattsmouth,  a  Mr.  Todd  said :  'I  will  give  five  dollars 
cash  and  one  dollar  per  month  thereafter  as  long  as  I 
live,'  and  so  wrote  his  subscription,  saying :  'This  move- 
ment ought  to  have  started  thirty  years  ago.'  At  Dakota 
City,  a  Mr.  J.  F.  Leedom  rose  in  the  audience  and  said : 
'I  am  now  73  years  of  age  and  make  my  living  pounding 
iron  all  day  on  the  anvil,  but  I  will  gladly  give  one  dollar 
per  month  to  this  emancipation  movement.'  At  Albion, 
an  ex-soldier,  a  poor  man,  getting  $8  per  month,  pension, 
said  that  he  felt  that  his  country  was  in  more  danger 
now,  than  it  was  in  1861,  and  that  he  would  not  feel  at 
home  with  his  conscience  if  he  did  not  give  one  dollar 
of  that  eight,  each  month,  to  this  cause,  and  he  is  now  a 
regular  contributor  to  the  fund. 

"Some,"  continued  Mr.  Thompson,  "are  giving  less 
than  a  dollar  per  month,  and  the  highest  we  have  is  five 
dollars  per  month.  While  the  money  makes  it  possible 
for  us  to  organize  and  educate,  I  look  on  the  effect,  as  of 
greater  benefit  than  the  money.  They  all  become  work- 
ers. It  makes  of  them  proprietors  in  politics ;  and  the 
man  who  gives  nothing,  seeing  what  his  neighbors  are 
doing,  is  the  more  anxious  to  help  with  his  vote  or  with 
his  services. 

"The  result  was,"  he  continued,  "that  we,  this  year, 
increased  our  vote  by  ten  per  cent  over  last  year,  while 
the  Republicans  lost  one  per  cent  on  their  vote  of  last 
year.  We  carried  the  state  by  over  11,000  larger  ma- 
jority than  last  year.  From  experience,  I  heartily  ap- 
prove of  such  methods  as  have  been  here  presented.  And 
I  want  to  say  further  that  in  Nebraska  we  made  an  educa- 
tional campaign  along  the  same  lines  that  this  'School' 
has  followed.  We  explained  the  duplications  of  loans 
by  the  bankers  and  showed  why  they  wanted  to  hold 
down  the  supply  of  money  by  demonetizing  silver.    We 


18U  MOKEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

made  an  aggressive  campaign.  And t we  won,  mainly  for 
the  reason  that  the  people  were  financiering  their  own 
campaign." 

Mr.  Thompson,  having  made  this  statement,  sat  down. 
COIN  thanked  him  and  proceeded : 

"The  farmers'  alliance  a  few  years  ago  reversed  a  Re- 
publican majority  of  some  60,000  in  Kansas ;  and  the 
main  reason  for  their  success  was  that  they  financiered 
their  own  campaign.  The  O'Connell  movement  in  Ire- 
land that  came  nearly  giving  Ireland  its  freedom  was 
sustained  financially  by  what  was  known  as  the  'Penny 
Rent.'  It  was  a  one  cent,  per  month,  contribution,  to  pay 
Mr.  O'Connell's  expenses  and  to  justify  him  in  quitting 
his  law  practice  and  devoting  all  of  his  time  to  the  cause 
of  Ireland.  In  an  average  sized  county  in  the  state  of 
Illinois  over  $20,000  per  annum  is  paid  in  ministers'  sal- 
aries. It  means  two  million  of  dollars  annually  for  the 
state  of  Illinois  alone.  These  are  voluntary  contributions. 
It  shows  that  when  a  cause  is  brought  to  the  people  and 
made  their  cause  that  they  are  willing  to  financier  it. 

"Our  cause  is  a  religion.  It  is  God  against  Mammon ! 
All  religions  must  give  way  by  extinction  or  corruption, 
if  Mammon  wins !  All  attempts  of  ministers  to  save 
souls,  will  make  but  little  progress,  while  the  people,  by 
a  system  of  laws,  are  being  driven  to  despair  and  poverty ! 
By  the  present  system.  Mammon  is  preparing  souls  for 
eternal  punishment,  in  all  classes  of  society — using  covet- 
ousness  and  poverty  for  its  purpose.  A  minister  is  with- 
out religion  who,  hearing  our  cause,  does  not  recognize 
it  as  such ! 

"An  established  church  goes  with  Monarchy  and  Mam- 
mon; and  all  other  churches  must  give  way  under  a  sys- 
tem that  is  establishing  trusts.  Our  cause  is  a  religion! 
And,  properly  managed,  all  the  money  necessary   for 


MONEY,  TRUSTS.  IMPERIALISM.  181 

defraying  the  expenses  of  missionaries,  and  organizers, 
and  education,  will  be  forthcoming. 

"Just  so  long  as  we  look  to  those  who  are  to  be  specially 
benefited  by  laws,  for  the  expenses  of  education  and 
organization,  we  will  go  onward  to  our  national  ruin! 
Let  the  issue  be  sharply  defined,  of  the  people  on  one  side 
financiering  their  own  cause,  and  those  selfishly  inter- 
ested, on  the  other  side,  financiering  their  evil  cause,  and 
the  triumph  of  God  over  Mammon  on  earth  is  achieved ! 
Ten  thousand  men,  contributing  one  dollar  each,  on  our 
side,  will  have  more  influence  than  one  man  contrib- 
uting ten  thousand  dollars  on  the  other  side ! 

"While  thus  managing,  there  are  some  other  things  we 
can  do.  We  can  nominate  men  as  our  candidates  for 
Congress,  who  will  pledge  themselves  to  give  all  of  their 
time,  when  not  at  Washington,  to  organization,  A  con- 
gressman receives  a  salary  of  $5,000  per  year.  It  should 
enable  him  to  live  without  engaging  in  any  other  busi- 
ness. This  would  place  at  the  service  of  our  chairman 
of  the  national  committee  as  many  as  150  organizers  for 
an  average  of  eight  months  in  a  year,  whose  salaries  are 
thus  provided  for.  There  is  no  better  way  in  which  they 
could  serve  their  country.  The  people  in  nominating 
candidates  for  Congress,  should  select  men  who  have  a 
willingness  and  natural  ability  as  organizers,  and  who 
will  pledge  themselves  to  thus  assist. 

"We  must  put  our  organization  in  motion,  continuously, 
during  campaigns  and  when  there  are  no  campaigns,  till 
it  is  triumphant — till  we  have  the  President  and  both 
houses  of  Congress.  It  will  then  be  well  for  us  to  re- 
member the  principle  that  in  a  Republic  'all  the  people 
should  be  educated  on  questions  of  national  policy' — as  a 
safeguard  against  special  legislation  and  the  loss  of  our 
liberties. 


183  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

"What  would  do  this,  is  the  separation  of  all  questions 
of  national  policy  from  party  politics,  and  submitting 
them  to  a  direct  vote  of  the  people.  It  throws  upon  the 
people  the  responsibility  of  a  decision,  disconnected  from 
partisan  politics;  and,  will  more  than  anything  else  en- 
courage their  education  on  questions  of  civilization. 
Those  who  want  civilization  preserved,  will  outnumber 
those,  who,  selfishly,  want  special  privileges,  and  the  com- 
mon good  wall  be  thus  protected. 

"In  the  meantime,  by  the  present  method,  a  few  reme- 
dies are  quickly  needed  to  restrain  the  force  that  is  re- 
ducing our  people  to  dependency  and  degradation.  At 
the  earliest  possible  moment  we  must  destroy  the  wicked 
system  that  is  draining  the  nation  of  its  life  blood — 
behind  which  are  the  organized  bankers — who  are  mainly 
responsible  for  all  our  ills ! 

"In  the  order  in  which  remedies  come,  organization, 
practical  organization,  and  organized  education,  come 
first. 

"To  the  man  who  is  discouraged,  let  us  say:  'Have 
hope !  We  are  going  to  win !  The  flagrant  greed  of  the 
classes  is  arousing  the  American  people!  Organization 
will  make  of  the  latter  a  thunderholt.  To  those  who  are 
with  the  'republican  party,'  let  us  say,  'You  are  welcome 
in  our  ranks — espouse  our  cause,  the  cause  of  mankind — 
and  there  will  be  great  rejoicing  with  us  as  each  of  you 
comes  under  our  standard.' 

"There  are  men  who  claim  to  be  Democrats  and  yet 
believe  in  the  present  system.  To  them  we  would  say, 
'Every  instinct  and  principle  of  democracy  is  opposed 
to  your  views.  Jefferson,  the  founder  of  the  Democratic 
party,  was  the  great  leader  of  the  people  against  the 
privileged  classes.  If  one  wath  pick  in  hand  were  to 
shatter  the  tomb  at  Monticello,  it  would  be  no  less  a  re- 


MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 


183 


flection   upon   the    memory   of   that   sleeping 
statesman,  than,  in  his  name — in  the  name  of 
the  great  party  he  founded— to  advocate  the 
class  legislation  of  the  bankers,  that  is  de- 
stroying the   Republic,   founded   upon   the 
immortal    document    that    he    wrote — the 
Declaration     of    Independence!      Having 
seen   the   error  of  their  way,   they,   too, 
should  be  welcomed  as  members  of  our 
religion. 

"To  the  men  of  class  legislation,  we 
would  say:    'You  are  destroy- 
ing   the    Republic;     you  S  ^ 
are  striking  blows  at 


civilization 
that    must    be    fatal 
unless  it  is  rescued  from  your 
assaults.     The  man  who  com- 
fraction  of  a  statute  law  is  called 
You    use   the    law   to   unjustly 
others    their    property — to    de- 
life,  liberty  and  happiness.    You 
despair — your  act  reaches  the 
There  is  much  to  extenuate  and 
example  has  been  set  you  by 
have  been  willing 
ciety  has 


mits  an  in- 

a  criminal. 

take     from 

prive  them  of 

^/    drive    many    to 

j^/mfant  in  the  cradle. 

@/   excuse  you.     The 

others — politicians 

to    help    you ;    so- 

heretofore     c  o  n  - 

doned  your  crime 


l|nj]|i'jlll' 


184  MONEY,  TRUSTS,  IMPERIALISM. 

— but  now  the  pillars  of  the  RepubHc  are  giving  way, 
and  all  who  are  not  blind  can  see  who  the  men  are  who 
are  committing  this  monstrous  crime !  You  are  respon- 
sible to  God  and  man!  and  you  are  responsible  to  your 
own  self-respect !  Now  is  the  time  to  stop,  to  set  your- 
selves right  while  you  are  yet  living!  You,"  too,  we  will 
welcome  as  the  church  welcomes  the  converted  sinner ! 

"To  the  American  people  I  would  say,  the  chains  are 
now  being  forged,  intended  for  our  hands.  Will  we  wait 
the  coming  of  our  jailers  ?  Will  we  wait  till  we  are  tied 
hand  and  foot  and  cannot  help  ourselves?  Will  we  not 
realize  the  danger  and  take  warning  in  time?  To  the 
intended  victim  the  crouching  panther  gives  warning  by 
eyes  and  posture  of  its  coming  leap !  So  we  are  warned ! 
Monarchy  stoops  to  spring!  Cold,  pitiless  Monarchy! 
that  would  pull  over  the  form  of  the  Republic,  the  wind- 
ing sheet  of  death !  Its  God  is  Mammon  and  it  seeks 
to  enslave  mankind !  God  forbid  that  you  intend  to  su- 
pinely permit  the  act !  Babes  now  in  their  mothers'  arms 
are  in  your  keeping!  Will  you  meet  to  consult  for 
the  common  good  ?  Will  you  follow  chosen  leaders,  that 
union,  system,  organization,  momentum  and  success  may 
be  given  to  our  cause?  Or,  will  you  join  the  herd  that 
knows  only  self,  that  brings  disunion  and  distraction  and 
a  hell  on  earth  ?  The  latter  are  limbed  as  human  beings, 
but  otherwise  are  wormy,  creeping  things  !  No  !  You  will 
do  your  part !  Each  boy,  each  girl,  each  man,  each  wo- 
man, will  be  like  heroes  in  the  strife ! !" 

Amidst  applause  that  rang  and  rang  again,  the  School 
closed. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


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